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LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


V 


✓ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/luxoritsternples00blac_0 


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r  > 


MEDINET  HABU. 

View  of  pylon  and  chapel  of  Nektanebos 


/v*  '** 


Published  Autumn ,  1923 


Printed  in  Great  Britain  by 
Billing  and  Sons,  Ltd.,  Guildford  and  Esher 


PREFACE 


It  was  as  long  ago  as  December,  1913,  when  Major 
Fletcher  was  staying  with  me  in  my  camp  at  Meir, 
in  Asyut  province,  that  he  and  I  first  discussed  the 
possibility  of  bringing  out  together  a  popularly 
written  account  of  life  as  led  by  the  inhabitants  of 
ancient  Thebes,  I  supplying  the  text  and  he  the 
illustrations. 

Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  Great  War  any  idea 
we  entertained  of  such  an  undertaking  was  inevit¬ 
ably  given  up.  However,  the  interest  aroused  by 
the  late  Lord  Carnarvon  and  Mr.  Howard  Carter’s 
discovery  in  the  Valley  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings 
brought  the  old  project  back  to  our  minds  ;  and 
when  Major  Fletcher  was  approached  by  Messrs. 
A.  and  C.  Black  on  the  subject  of  producing  a  book 
about  Luxor,  to  which  he  was  to  supply  the  illus¬ 
trations,  he  at  once  wrote  to  me  asking  me  to  do 
what  I  had  often  talked  about  doing  with  him  in 
the  past.  Hence  this  book,  which  it  is  hoped  will 
convince  its  readers  that  Egyptology  is  not  a  dreary 
study,  but  is  full  of  human  interest — is,  in  fact, 


VI 


PREFACE 


concerned  rather  with  life  and  beauty  than  with 
mummies  and  other  dusty  trophies  of  death. 

To  Professor  Sir  W.  M.  Flinders  Petrie  and  other 
friends  I  tender  my  sincere  thanks  for  kindly  per¬ 
mitting  me  to  use  illustrations  from  their  published 
works. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  say  that  it  will  give  me  no 
little  satisfaction  if  this  small  volume,  so  admirably 
illustrated  by  Major  Fletcher’s  pencil  drawings, 
succeeds,  as  it  is  intended  to  do,  in  increasing  the 
interest  of  the  general  public  in  Ancient  Egypt,  and 
so,  incidentally,  in  adding  to  the  list  of  subscribers 
to  the  Egypt  Exploration  Society,  under  the 
auspices  of  which  a  great  part  of  my  research  work 
in  Egypt  has  been  conducted. 


AYLWARD  M.  BLACKMAN. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Table  of  Dates  -  -  -  -  x 

CHAPTER  I 

Life  in  Anctent  Luxor  -  -  -  -  1 

CHAPTER  II 

How  Thebes  became  the  Capital  of  Egypt  -  35 

CHAPTER  III 

Thebes,  the  World’s  First  Monumental  City  -  58 

CHAPTER  IV 

Some  Great  Kings  in  Time  of  War  -  -  84 

CHAPTER  V 

A  Famous  Queen  -  Ill 

CHAPTER  VI 

Poems,  Songs,  and  Romances  -  136 

CHAPTER  VII 

Some  Funerary  Temples  -  160 

Bibliography  -----  -  191 

Index  ------  195 

•  • 

Vll 


LIST  OF  FULL-PAGE  PLATES 


FROM  DRAWINGS  BY 

MAJOR  BENTON  FLETCHER 

PLATE 

I.  Medinet  Habu  -  Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

II.  Luxor  Ferry  -  -  1 

III.  Floral  Columns,  Karnak  -  -  8 

IV.  Great  Hypostyle  Hall,  Karnak  -  17 

V.  Great  Hypostyle  Hall,  Karnak  -  24 

VI.  Temple  of  Khons,  Karnak  -  -  33 

VII.  Sacred  Lake,  Karnak  -  -  40 

VIII.  Colonnaded  Court,  Temple  of  Luxor  -  49 

IX.  Hypostyle  Hall,  Temple  of  Luxor  -  56 

X.  Nefretiri  -  -  -  -  65 

XI.  Head  of  a  Young  Man  -  -  72 

XII.  Native  School  -  -  -  -  81 

XIII.  The  Nile  at  Luxor  -  -  -  88 

XIV.  Wife  of  Ramesses  II.  -  97 

XV.  Deir  El-Rahri  -  104 

XVI.  Deir  El-Bahri  -  -  -  -  113 


vm 


LIST  OF  FULL-PAGE  PLATES  ix 

PLATE  FACING  PAGE 

XVII.  Ramesseum  -----  120 

XVIII.  Ramesseum  -  -  -  -  -  129 

XIX.  Hypostyle  Hall,  Ramesseum  -  136 

XX.  Ramesseum  -  -  -  -  140 

XXI.  Medinet  Habu  -  -  -  145 

XXII.  High  Gate  of  Ramesses  III.  -  -  152 

XXIII.  Colossal  Statue,  Thebes  -  -  -  161 

XXIV.  Tombs  of  the  Kings  -  -  168 

Sketch-Map  of  the  District  on  p.  xii 

There  are  also  fifty  line  illustrations  inserted  throughout 

the  text. 


TABLE  OF  DATES* 


THE  OLD  KINGDOM 
2900-2475  b.c. 

Fourth  Dynasty ,  2900-2750  b.c. 
Fifth  Dynasty ,  2750-2625  b.c. 

Sixth  Dynasty,  2625— 2475  b.c. 

FIRST  INTERMEDIATE  PERIOD 


INCLUDING  THE 

Seventh  and  Eighth  Dynasties ,  2475-2445  b.c. 
Ninth  and  Tenth  Dynasties,  2445-2160  b.c. 


THE  MIDDLE  KINGDOM 

2160-1788  b.c. 


Eleventh  Dynasty ,  2160-2000  b.c. 
Twelfth  Dynasty ,  2000—1788  b.c. 


Amenemhet  I. 
Sesostris  I. 

Amenemhet  II. 

Sesostris  II. 

Sesostris  III. 

Amenemhet  III. 

Amenemhet  IV. 
Sebknefrure' 


2000-1970  b.c. 
1980-1935  b.c. 

1938-1903  b.c. 

1906-1887  b.c. 

1887-1849  b.c. 

1849-1801  b.c. 

1801-1792  b.c. 
1792-1788  b.c. 


[2000-1980  b.c.,  alone. 
[1980-1970  b.  c. ,  with  his  son. 
[1980-1970  b.c.,  with  his  father. 

-J 1970-1938  b.c.,  alone. 
[1938-1935  b.c.,  with  his  son. 
[1938-1935  b.c.,  with  his  father. 

-I  1935-1906  b.c.,  alone. 
[1906-1903  b.c.,  with  his  son. 

J  1906-1903  b.c.,  with  his  father. 
\  1903-1887  b.cv  alone. 

Uncertain  period  with  his  son. 
/Uncertain  period  with  his  father. 
[Uncertain  period  with  his  son. 
Uncertain  period  with  his  father. 


*  In  accordance  with  Breasted,  “  A  History  of  Egypt.”  London, 
1906,  pp.  597/o//. 


TABLE  OF  DATES 


xi 


THE  SECOND  INTERMEDIATE  PERIOD 

1788  -  1580  b.c. 


INCLUDING  THE 


Thirteenth  to  Seventeenth  Dynasties  and  the  Hyksos, 

1788-1580  b.c. 

THE  NEW  KINGDOM,  OR  IMPERIAL  AGE, 

1580-1167  b.c. 


/ 


Eighteenth  Dynasty ,  1580-1350  b.c. 

Ahmose  I.  -----  - 

Amenhotpe  I.  -  ’ 

• 

Dhutmose  I.  -N 
Dhutmose  II. 

Hatshepsut 
Dhutmose  III.  - 
Amenhotpe  II.- 

Dhutmose  IV.  ------ 

Amenhotpe  III.  ----- 

Akhenaton 
Sakere' 

Tut'enkhamun 
Ay 

Nineteenth  Dynasty ,  1350-1205  b.c. 

Haremheb  ------ 

Ramesses  I.  - 

Seti  I.  - 
Ramesses  II.  - 

Merneptah  ------ 

Amenmeses  -  -  -  -  - 

SlPTAH  ------- 

Seti  II.  ------ 

Interim  of  Anarchy,  1205-1200  b.c. 

Twentieth  Dynasty ,  1200-1090  b.c. 

Setnakht  ------ 

Ramesses  III.  ------ 

Ramesses  IV. -Ramesses  XII.  - 


1580-1557  b.c. 
1557-153 6  b.c. 

1536-1447  b.c. 


1447-1420  b.c. 
1420-1411  b.c. 
1411-1375  b.c. 

1375-1350  b.c. 


1350-1315  b.c. 
1315  1314  b.c. 
1313-1292  b.c. 
1292-1225  b.c. 
1225-1215  b.c. 
1215  b.c. 
1215-1209  b.c. 
1209-1205  b.c- 


1200—1198  b.c. 
1198-1167  b.c. 
1167-1090  b.c. 


/ 


View  from  left  bank  of  Nile  towards  the  Temple  ut  Luxor.  (See  pp.  83,  1S4.) 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


CHAPTER  I 

LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 

The  first  question  that  anybody  would  ask  who 
wanted  to  know  something  of  the  life  led  by  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Luxor — or  Thebes  as  it  was 
called  by  the  Greek  and  Latin  writers — would  in 
all  probability  be  :  “  What  sort  of  houses  did  they 
live  in  ?”  So  I  propose  to  begin  the  first  chapter 
of  this  book  by  giving  as  briefly  as  possible  what 
will,  I  hope,  be  a  satisfactory  answer  to  this  by  no 
means  unintelligent  question. 

Excavations  have  shown  us  that  an  Egyptian 
town  presented  much  the  same  appearance  in 
ancient  as  in  modern  times.  There  were  the  same 
narrow  streets  and  the  same  sort  of  houses,  the 
latter  constructed  of  mud-brick,  sometimes  white¬ 
washed  or  colour-washed,  and  consisting,  in  the 
case  of  well-to-do  folk,  of  a  ground  floor  and  one 
or  two  upper  stories.  A  painting  in  the  tomb 

1 


2 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


chapel  of  a  certain  Theban  royal  scribe  named 
Dhutnufer,  who  flourished  some  time  about  the 
year  1450  b.c.,  depicts  just  such  a  two-storied 
house,  that  of  the  royal  scribe  himself  (see  Fig.  1). 
It  will  be  seen  that  flights  of  stairs  lead  from  one 
floor  to  another  and  on  to  the  flat  roof,  where,  as 
at  the  present  day,  are  placed  domed  granaries 
made  of  mud.  No  doubt,  then  as  now,  alongside 
of  the  granaries  was  stacked  the  household  fuel — 
bundles  of  brushwood  and  maize-stalks  and  cakes 
of  cow-dung.  The  roof  in  ancient,  no  less  than  in 
modern,  Egypt  was  the  women’s  favourite  resort, 
the  place  where  they  not  only  gathered  to  gossip 
and  enjoy  the  air,  but  also  to  do  a  great  deal  of 
their  work,  spinning,  sewing,  and  even  cooking. 

The  ground  floor  of  Dhutnufer’s  house,  it  will  be 
seen,  is  given  up  to  the  kitchen,  and  also  to  work¬ 
rooms,  where  men  and  women  are  engaged  in  spin¬ 
ning  and  weaving.  These  workpeople  are  either 
members  of  Dhutnufer’s  household,  or  else  that 
individual  let  out  the  greater  part  of  the  ground 
floor  of  his  house  to  a  weaver,  who  used  the  rooms 
as  his  business  premises. 

On  the  first  floor  were  Dhutnufer’s  own  apart¬ 
ments,  where  he  also  received  his  friends.  The 
women’s  quarters,  as  in  a  modern  Egyptian  house, 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


3 


occupied  the  top  floor.  It  will  be  noted  that  the 
actual  rooms  shown  by  the  artist  are  of  fine  dimen¬ 
sions,  the  ceilings  being  supported  on  columns, 
doubtless  made  of  wood. 


Fig.  1. — Dhutnufer’s  House. 

[After  “  Ancient  Egypt,"  in.  By  the  courtesy  of  Professor  Sir  W .  M. 

Flinders  Petrie. ) 


In  respect  of  its  furnishing  and  decoration,  such 
a  house  as  that  of  Dhutnufer  would,  though  less 
magnificent,  have  been  very  much  like  one  of  the 
larger  mansions  now  to  be  described. 

The  excavations  of  the  Egypt  Exploration  Society 


4 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


and  the  Deutsche  Orient  -  Gesellschaft  at  El- 
Amarna  have  laid  bare  the  remains  of  some  once 
splendid  houses,  doubtless  similar  to  those  that 
belonged  to  the  great  nobles  and  officials  of  ancient 
Luxor,  and  resembling  in  many  respects  the 
dwellings  of  the  great  pashas  and  beys  of  to-day. 
Such  houses  stood  each  in  the  midst  of  an  enclosure, 
often  covering  a  large  area,  surrounded  by  high, 
sometimes  crenellated,  walls  of  crude  brick  (see 
Fig.  4).  To  this  enclosure  admittance  was  gained 
from  the  street  by  an  imposing  gateway,  outside 
which,  on  a  couple  of  low  brick  benches,  sat  a  small 
group  of  servants,  whose  business  it  was  to  super¬ 
vise  the  ingress  and  egress  of  members  of  the 
household  and  of  clients,  and  to  attend  to  the  wants 
of  visitors.  Such  a  group  of  servants  is  regularly 
to  be  seen  sitting  beside  the  entrance  to  a  pasha’s 
residence  in  modern  Cairo. 

In  one  corner  of  the  enclosure  were  the  great 
man’s  stables,  cowsheds,  storehouses,  and  granaries 
— for  wealth  in  those  days  consisted  not  in  money 
but  in  produce — and  close  to  them  the  quarters  of 
the  male  servants.  In  an  entirely  different  part  of 
the  grounds  was  the  residence  of  the  wife’s  female 
attendants  and  those  ladies  who  found  favour  with 
the  master  of  the  house,  but  did  not  hold  the 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


5 


privileged  status  of  wife.  It  was  to  such  ladies,  no 
doubt,  who,  however,  occupied  a  recognized  position 
in  the  household,  that  the  euphemistic  title  of 
“  sisters  ”  was  assigned. 

The  actual  mansion — a  ground  plan  of  a  typical 
El-Amarna  house  appears  as  Fig.  2 — stood  in  the 


Fig.  2. — Ground  Plan  of  a  Mansion  at  El-Amarna. 

{After  “  Journal  of  Egyptian  Archaeology,”  viii.  By  the  courtesy  of 
Professor  Peet  and  Messrs.  C.  L.  Woolley  and  Newton. ) 

middle  of  the  enclosure,  and  a  flight  of  shallow 
steps  led  up  to  the  front  door.  On  the  ground 
floor  were  a  number  of  fine  rooms,  the  ceilings, 
painted  bright  blue,  resting  upon  wooden  columns, 
which  were  also  painted  in  gay  colours.  The  walls 
of  these  apartments  were  white,  except  for  a  painted 


6 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


frieze,  which  generally  took  the  form  of  floral 
garlands  or  festoons,  a  bunch  of  dead  waterfowl 
being  occasionally  represented  hanging  head  down¬ 
wards  between  each  pair  of  festoons,  a  foretaste  of 
the  still-life  pictures  of  the  seventeenth  century 
Dutch  painters !  Sometimes,  too,  the  wall-space 
of  these  rooms  was  broken  by  a  painted  recess,  or  a 
couple  of  such  recesses,  resembling  somewhat  the 
kibleh  in  a  mosque,  and  perhaps  serving  a  religious 
as  well  as  a  decorative  purpose. 

Of  the  pillared  apartments,  one  generally  lay  on 
the  north  side  of  the  house  (Room  3  of  the  plan) 
and  one  on  the  west  side  (Room  9),  the  northern 
room  being  a  favourite  resort  in  summer  and  the 
western  in  winter.  These  two  rooms  had  large 
windows  down  one  wall — the  outside  wall  of  the 
house  in  either  case — filled  with  stone  gratings, 
which  broke  up  the  strong  light  in  an  agreeable 
manner. 

Between  these  two  apartments,  the  north  and 
west  galleries,  as  they  might  well  be  called,  lay  two 
other  pillared  rooms,  evidently  reception  or  dining 
rooms,  the  one  (Room  8)  probably  intended  for 
the  entertainment  of  guests  (see  Fig.  3),  and  the 
other  (Room  16)  reserved  for  the  use  of  the 
family.  In  either  dining-room  there  was  a  dais,  on 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


7 


which  possibly  were  placed  chairs  for  the  master 
of  the  house  and  for  the  principal  persons  among 
those  who  partook  of  a  meal  in  his  company. 
There  was  also  a  stone  platform,  built  against  one 
of  the  walls,  with  a  stone  screen  at  the  back,  and 


Fig.  3. — A  Pillared  Reception  Room. 

{After  “  Journal  of  Egyptian  Archaeology,"  viii.  By  the  courtesy  oj 
Professor  Beet  and  Messrs.  C.  L.  Woolley  and  Newton. ) 

on  this  people  performed  their  ablutions,  for  the 
ancient  Egyptians  indulged  in  a  great  deal  of  rather 
elaborate  washing  both  before  meals  and  at  other 
times.  A  hollow  was  cut  in  the  platform  to 
receive  the  large  jar  which  contained  the  ablution 


8 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


water.  The  jar  is  shown  in  the  adjacent  cut 
(Fig.  3)  standing  in  position. 

These  two  dining-rooms  were  lit  by  grated 
windows  set  high  up  in  the  walls,  and  their  ceilings 
rose  well  above  the  roof  of  the  upper-story  rooms, 
which  did  not  extend  above  these  two  apartments. 
In  the  dining-room  used  for  guests  were  a  number 
of  doors,  including  two  fine  folding  doors,  admitting 
to  the  two  pillared  galleries,  the  private  dining¬ 
room  and  other  rooms,  and  also  to  the  staircase 
leading  to  the  upper  floor. 

In  either  dining-room  there  was  a  receptacle  in 
the  floor  for  the  portable  hearth  or  brazier,  which, 
as  in  the  modern  Egyptian  house,  was  used  in  the 
cold  weather,  the  fuel  employed  being  charcoal. 

The  rest  of  the  ground  floor  was  taken  up  by 
two  bedrooms  (Rooms  21  and  27) — the  bed  standing 
on  a  low  dais  in  a  recess — and  a  number  of  smaller 
rooms.  These  and  the  bedrooms  had  no  windows, 
and  light  could  only  have  been  admitted  through 
the  doors  and  through  gratings  above  the  doors. 
But  whatever  light  managed  to  get  in  was  in¬ 
tensified  by  the  whitewashed  walls.  It  should  be 
noted  that  either  bedroom  had  a  bathroom  and 
lavatory  attached  to  it  (Rooms  22,  23,  and  28,  29). 

Some  of  the  smaller  rooms  (Nos.  14,  15,  17,  and 


Ill 


FI  Ob’ AL  COLUMNS,  KARNAK. 


Erected  by  Dhutmosc  III.  One  showing  the  papyrus  plant  of 
ami  the  other  tlu>  Elk-;  of  Upper  Egypt.  (S  -e  p.  y.y 


Lower  Egypt, 
foil.) 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


9 


18)  were  certainly  store-rooms,  being  furnished 
with  broad  shelves  placed  on  brick  supports.  The 
rest  may  have  been  used  as  sleeping  apartments  by 
less  important  members  of  the  household,  relatives 
and  confidential  servants.  The  kitchen  was  a 
separate  building  all  to  itself. 

There  was  at  least  one  upper  story,  which  was 
probably  given  up  entirely,  or  in  the  main,  to  the 
women.  Certain  of  the  upper  rooms  were  pillared 
like  those  downstairs. 

Such  a  house  was  beautifully  though  simply  fur¬ 
nished.  The  floors  of  the  principal  rooms,  which 
were  of  unburnt  brick  or  tiles,  appear  to  have  been 
covered  with  matting,  on  which  brightly  coloured 
rugs  or  carpets  were  also  sometimes  laid.  Occa¬ 
sionally  such  covering  was  dispensed  with  and  the 
floor  was  painted,  though  never,  so  it  would  seem, 
with  the  beautiful  designs,  described  in  Chapter  III., 
which  were  employed  for  the  decoration  of  the 
floors  of  the  royal  palaces. 

The  more  important  rooms  no  doubt  contained 
a  number  of  chairs  and  stools,  the  best  of  these 
being  made  of  ebony,  or  other  precious  woods, 
inlaid  with  ivory  ;  or  else  the  wood  was  overlaid 
with  gold  and  sometimes  inlaid  as  well  with  richly 
coloured  glaze  plaques.  The  chairs  and  stools  often 

2 


10 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


had  seats  woven  out  of  palm-leaves,  looking  exactly 
like  the  cane  seats  of  our  modern  chairs,  and  on 
these  were  laid  cushions  covered  with  leather  or 
some  woven  material. 

People  reposed  at  night  on  couches,  the  legs  of 
which,  as  also  the  legs  of  the  chairs,  were  carved  in 
semblance  of  those  of  a  lion. 

Other  articles  of  furniture  were  boxes  and  caskets, 
often  elaborately  carved,  gilded,  and  inlaid,  in  which 
were  kept  clothing  and  jewelry. 

A  large  portion  of  the  enclosure  surrounding  a 
great  house  was  laid  out  as  a  formal  garden  (see 
Fig.  4).  Part  of  such  a  garden  was  often,  as  in 
modern  Egypt,  given  up  to  trellised  vines,  the 
remaining  space  being  occupied  by  ornamental  and 
fruit-bearing  trees.  There  was  also  generally  a 
pond  in  the  garden,  sometimes  more  than  one, 
overshadowed  by  clumps  of  papyrus  and  other 
swamp-loving  plants  and  bushes.  In  the  pond 
itself  grew  lotus  flowers,  among  which  swam  duck 
and  other  water-fowl,  and  also  all  manner  of  fish. 

A  love  for  nature  animate  and  inanimate  seems 
to  have  been  a  marked  characteristic  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians.  A  wealthy  man  gathered  into  his  gar¬ 
den  all  the  plants  and  flowers  he  could  obtain ; 
indeed,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  subsequent  chapter, 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


11 


Fig.  4. — A  House  in  its  Surrounding  Grounds. 

{After  Perrot  and  Chipiez,  “  Histoire  de  V Art  dans  a  V Antiquity”) 


i 


12 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


certain  of  the  Pharaohs  brought  strange  trees, 
shrubs,  and  plants  from  abroad,  and  planted  them 
in  the  gardens  and  parks  attached  to  the  royal 
palaces  and  the  temples.  Near  the  pond  or  ponds 
in  the  garden  a  gaily  painted  wooden  pavilion  was 
often  erected,  in  which  the  master  of  the  demesne 
could  sit  either  alone  or  accompanied  by  wife  and 
friends,  and  unobserved  watch  the  antics  of  the 
water-fowl  as  they  swam  and  dived  among  the 
water-lilies,  preened  their  feathers  on  the  bank,  or 
sat  in  their  nests  amid  the  reeds.  This  love  of  the 
Egyptians  for  nature  appears  in  the  floral  wall- 
decorations  in  their  houses,  but  especially  in  the 
paintings  and  reliefs  with  which  they  adorned  their 
tomb-chapels  and  the  royal  palaces. 

It  was  not  in  his  garden  only  that  the  Egyptian 
gentleman  practised  the  cult  of  the  open-air  life. 
Among  his  favourite  pastimes  were  fishing  and 
fowling,  and  hunting  the  hippopotamus,  in  back¬ 
water,  swamp,  and  river,  and  big-game  shooting  in 
the  desert. 

When  fishing  for  sport  the  ancient  Egyptian 
generally  employed  a  double-bladed  harpoon,  and 
the  artist,  who  represented  his  patron  indulging  in 
this  form  of  amusement,  always  flatteringly  shows 
him,  as  in  Fig.  5,  just  in  the  act  of  hoisting  his  har- 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


13 


poon  out  of  the  water  with  a  great  fish  transfixed 
on  either  blade  !  When  wielding  this  formidable- 
looking  weapon  the  noble  or  gentle  harpooner 
stood  in  the  middle  of  a  boat  made  of  papyrus 
reeds  cunningly  fastened  together.  He  is  always 
depicted  accompanied  by  one  or  more  male  atten¬ 
dants,  often  a  son  or  two  as  well,  and  nearly  always 


Fig.  5. — Egyptian  Gentleman  Fowling  and  Fishing. 

(. After  Wilkinson ,  “  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians.") 


one  or  more  of  his  ladies — his  wife  and  a  daughter 
or  two.  He  used  a  similar  boat  and  was  similarly 
accompanied  when  he  was  fowling.  Standing  in 
the  middle  of  the  frail-looking  craft  (see  Fig.  6),  we 
see  him  hurling  his  throw-stick  at  the  cloud  of 
birds  hovering  above  the  dense  papyrus  thickets, 
which  grow  down  to  the  water’s  edge. 


14 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


Sometimes  when  out  for  a  day’s  fowling  the 
ancient  sportsman  took  a  cat  with  him,  the  animal 
having  been  trained  to  catch  birds  and  bring  them 
to  its  master  (see  Fig.  6).  These  fishing  and  fowl- 


Fig.  6. — A  Fowler  hurling  his  Throw-Stick. 

[After  Wilkinson.) 


ing  scenes  are  very  attractive.  On  the  surface  of 
the  bright  blue  water  float  beautiful  lotus  flowers 
together  with  their  flat  circular  green  leaves,  and  in 
and  out  amid  their  stalks  swim  fishes  great  and 
small  with  wonderful  iridescent  scales.  The 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


15 


papyrus  thickets  swarm  with  birds  of  all  kinds, 
which  wade  in  the  shallows,  or  fly  overhead,  or  sit 
on  their  eggs  in  their  nests,  or  hover  protectingly 
above  their  half-fledged  young.  Among  the  birds 
are  to  be  seen  butterflies  and  dragon-flies. 

The  ladies  are  dressed  in  their  best  clothes  and 
wear  brightly  coloured  ornaments.  The  wife  is 
sometimes  depicted  standing  beside  her  lord,  often 
with  her  arm  lovingly  cast  round  his  waist — surely 
a  rather  ill-timed  display  of  affection  !  Often,  too, 
she  sits  quietly  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  with  the 
other  ladies,  and  contents  herself  with  embracing 
the  marital  ankle !  The  ladies  generally  hold 
bunches  of  lotus  flowers,  and  they  may  also  be  seen 
carrying  the  birds  that  have  been  brought  down 
by  the  well-aimed  throw-stick.  In  a  well-known 
Theban  tomb-chapel  picture  a  young  girl  is  repre¬ 
sented  leaning  over  the  side  of  the  boat  and  pluck¬ 
ing  a  blue  and  white  lotus  flower  to  add  to  the 
nosegays  carried  by  the  older  female  members  of 
the  party. 

The  ladies  seem  to  have  accompanied  the  men 
even  when  they  engaged  in  the  dangerous  sport  of 
hunting  the  hippopotamus.  A  painting  in  one  of 
the  Theban  tomb-chapels  (Fig.  7),  now,  unhappily, 
completely  destroyed,  shows  us  the  royal  herald, 


16 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


Intef,  standing  up  in  one  of  the  usual  papyrus  boats, 
and  in  the  act  of  hurling  his  harpoon  at  one  of  these 
monsters.  A  rope,  we  learn,  was  attached  to  the 
blade,  so  that  when  the  great  beast  had  been  trans- 


Fig.  7- — Hunting  the  Hippopotamus. 

( After  Wilkinson.) 


fixed  the  blade  could  still  be  controlled  by  the  rope, 
which  could  be  drawn  in  or  let  out  as  the  situation 
demanded.  In  the  picture  in  question  the  animal 
has  already  been  pierced  three  times,  and  Intef 


IV 


GREAT  HYPOSTYLE  HALL,  KARNAK. 

View  down  central  aisle  towards  obelisk  of  Dhutmose  I.  (See  j>p.  60  foil.) 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


17 


holds  in  his  left  hand  the  ropes  attached  to  the 
three  blades.  An  attendant  is  trying  to  cast  a 
noose  over  the  enraged  monster’s  head. 

When  an  ancient  Egyptian  gentleman  went  a- 
hunting  in  the  desert  he  left  all  the  members  of  the 
harvrn  behind  him,  and  was  accompanied  only  by 
men.  Permanent,  or  perhaps  only  temporary, 
enclosures  were  constructed  in  the  desert,  into 
which  was  gathered  together  game  (or  what  the 
ancient  Egyptians  reckoned  game)  of  every  descrip¬ 
tion  (see  Fig.  8) — oryxes,  ibexes,  gazelles,  hyenas, 
ostriches,  hares,  and  even  hedgehogs  !  The  hunter, 
who  was  either  on  foot  or  rode  in  a  two-horse  chariot 
is  depicted  by  the  ancient  artist  as  shooting  arrow 
after  arrow  into  the  miscellaneous  herd  of  animals, 
who  rush  away  from  him  in  headlong  flight.  The 
hunter  was  accompanied  by  large  and  fierce  hounds, 
which  are  regularly  shown  racing  after  the  terrified 
creatures,  and  bringing  down  those  that  they  have 
managed  to  catch  up  and  spring  upon. 

The  apartments  of  the  wife  and  daughters  and 
other  chief  female  members  of  the  family  were,  as 
has  already  been  pointed  out,  upstairs.  In  the  case 
of  a  large  and  wealthy  establishment,  the  female 
attendants  and  the  concubines,  as  also  has  been 
stated  above,  were  lodged  in  a  separate  building. 

3 


18 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


Fig.  8. — Part  of  a  Theban  Wall  -Painting  depicting  a  Desert  Chase. 

[After  Wilkinson.) 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


19 

Here  certain  tomb- chapel  reliefs  depict  them  as 
entertaining  one  another  with  vocal  and  instru¬ 
mental  music  and  with  dancing. 

The  women’s  quarters,  especially  in  the  house  of 
a  great  noble  or  high  official,  where  there  would 
have  been,  particularly  in  the  later  Imperial  Age, 
a  number  of  concubines,  were  doubtless,  as  they 
are  at  the  present  day,  hotbeds  of  intrigue.  Indeed, 
fairly  full  details  of  a  harm  conspiracy,  got  up  by 
the  women  of  a  very  exalted  household,  the  house¬ 
hold  of  no  less  a  person  than  the  Emperor 
Harnesses  III.,  are  preserved  to  us  in  certain 
contemporary  state  documents. 

One  of  Ramesses  Ill.’s  queens,  we  learn,  plotted 
to  make  away  with  the  king,  who  was  now  an  old 
man  and  evidently  in  a  bad  state  of  health,  her 
object  being  to  place  her  own  son  on  the  throne. 
Various  members  of  the  royal  household,  some  of 
them  employed  in  the  personal  service  of  the 
Pharaoh,  were  implicated,  chief  among  them  being 
the  LiOrd  Chamberlain  and  a  royal  butler. 

The  Lord  Chamberlain  managed  to  acquire  a 
number  of  wax  figures  of  gods  and  men,  and  also 
some  magical  writings,  all  of  which  he  succeeded 
in  smuggling  into  the  harm.  By  means  of  these, 
it  was  supposed,  the  palace  guard  could  be  bewitched 


so 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


and  enfeebled,  and  thus  the  plot  would  not  be 
discovered  and  foiled. 

Wives  of  certain  of  the  officers  who  kept  guard 
over  the  gate  of  the  liarlm  were  drawn  into  the 
plot,  and  were  prevailed  upon  to  convey  messages 
to  persons  outside  the  palace  precincts — namely, 
male  relatives  and  friends  of  the  harim  inmates, 
who  were  urged  to  stir  up  the  people  of  Luxor 
against  the  old  Pharaoh.  It  is  evident  that  what 
was  aimed  at  was  a  revolution  in  the  capital  co¬ 
inciding  with  the  murderous  coup  d'etat  within  the 
royal  palace. 

But,  despite  all  precautions,  information  reached 
the  ears  of  those  who  were  still  faithful  to  their 
lawful  sovereign  that  a  plot  was  brewing.  Perhaps 
one  of  the  conspirators  thought  better  of  it  and 
turned  king’s  evidence,  for  the  authorities  evidently 
were  furnished  with  a  long  list  of  names,  and  all 
the  persons  known  to  be  implicated  in  the  con¬ 
spiracy  were  arrested.  A  special  tribunal  was 
appointed  to  try  the  criminals,  and  those  found 
guilty  of  the  charges  brought  against  them  were 
executed  or  else  allowed  to  commit  suicide. 

At  this  period  of  Egyptian  history,  the  end  of 
the  Second  Empire,  the  population  of  the  capital 
was  as  mixed  as  that  of  modern  Cairo,  and  many 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


21 


of  the  highest  positions  about  the  Court  were  held 
by  foreigners.  Wealth,  luxury,  and  the  influx  of 
foreigners  from  the  conquered  countries,  had 
thoroughly  corrupted  the  Egyptians  of  the  upper 
classes,  and  it  is  not  surprising  to  learn  that  even 
members  of  the  special  tribunal  were  susceptible  to 
outside  influence.  The  State  documents,  from 
which  the  account  of  the  conspiracy  and  trials  given 
above  has  been  derived,  inform  us  that  two  of  the 
judges,  after  their  appointment  to  the  special 
tribunal,  took  part  in  a  drinking  bout  with  some  of 
the  accused  women  and  one  of  their  male  con¬ 
federates,  and  two  officers  who  were  responsible 
for  the  safe-keeping  of  the  prisoners  joined  in  the 
revels !  The  two  judges  and  officers  in  question 
were  brought  to  trial  for  this  gross  misconduct,  and, 
being  found  guilty,  were  sentenced  to  have  their 
noses  and  ears  cut  off.  One  of  those  thus  mutilated, 
unable  to  bear  the  misery  and  disgrace  inflicted  on 
him,  took  his  own  life. 

But  this  deals  with  the  shady  side  of  Egyptian 
domesticity.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  ordinary 
husband  and  wife  seem  to  have  lived  on  the  most 
affectionate  terms  with  one  another.  Both  in 
statuary  and  in  reliefs  and  paintings  the  husband 
and  wife  are  constantly  depicted  as  sitting  or 


22 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


standing  side  by  side,  she  often  with  an  arm  thrown 
lovingly  round  his  shoulders  or  waist.  Husband, 
wife,  and  children  all  sat  together  at  meat,  and 
there  was  not  that  strict  seclusion  of  women  that 
is  such  a  marked  feature  of  modern  Egyptian  social 
life.  As  we  shall  see  shortly,  men  and  women  sat 
side  by  side  at  banquets  and  other  entertainments, 
and  engaged  one  another  in  lively  conversation. 
It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  ladies  accom¬ 
panied  their  husbands  and  male  relations  when 
they  went  fishing,  fowling,  and  hippopotamus 
hunting. 

What  the  relations  of  a  man  with  his  wife  might 
be,  even  in  the  late  Imperial  Age,  is  revealed  to  us 
in  a  letter  written  by  a  widower  to  his  dead  spouse, 
the  document  being  now  preserved  in  the  Museum 
at  Leyden. 

Some  time  after  his  wife’s  death  the  man  fell  sick 
and  his  medical  adviser  apparently  informed  him 
that  she  was  annoyed  with  him  for  some  reason  or 
other,  and  was  making  him  ill.  The  sick  man, 
therefore,  composed  a  letter  to  the  excellent  ghost 
of  the  dear  departed,  and  having,  doubtless,  first 
read  it  aloud  in  the  tomb-chapel  on  the  occasion  of 
one  of  the  periodical  celebrations  therein  of  the 
funerary  liturgy,  fastened  it  to  the  wrathful  lady’s 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


23 


portrait-statue.  By  so  doing,  it  was  felt,  the  letter 
was  bound  to  reach  her. 

What  wrong  have  I  done  thee ,  he  asks,  that  1 
should  be  in  this  evil  plight  in  which  I  now  am  ? 
What  have  I  done  unto  thee  that  thy  hand  should  be 
set  against  me ,  seeing  that  I  have  done  thee  no 
wrong  ?  From  the  time  that  I  was  with  thee  as 
husband  until  to-day ,  what  have  I  done  unto  thee 
that  I  have  had  to  conceal  ?  1  will  stay  in  thy 

presence  by  means  of  the  words  of  my  mouth ,  in  the 
presence  of  the  nine  gods  of  the  West  (the  gods  of 
the  world  of  the  dead),  and  one  shall  judge  between 
thee  and  this  letter  which  speaks  with  thee ,  namely 
this  coviplaint.  What  have  I  done  unto  thee  ?  Thou 
wast  my  wife  when  I  was  a  stripling ,  and  I  was  ever 
with  thee.  ,  .  .  When  I  exercised  any  office  I  was 
with  thee.  I  never  left  thee  nor  made  thy  heart 
sorrowful.  But  see ,  thou  dost  not  make  my  heart  glad , 
therefore  zvill  I  have  the  law  of  thee  and  one  shall 
discern  right  from  wrong.  He  then  points  out  to 
her  how  be  magnified  her  in  the  eyes  of  his  under¬ 
lings.  Behold ,  when  I  was  instructor  of  the  officers 
of  Pharaolis  host  and  chariotry ,  1  made  them  come 
and  bow  themselves  down  before  thee ,  and  made 
them  bring  all  good  things  to  lay  down  in  thy 
presence.  He  again  emphasizes  the  fact  that  he 


24 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


never  had  anything  to  conceal  from  her,  insists 
that  he  was  always  a  faithful  husband,  and  boasts 
that  in  all  his  dealings  with  her  he  never  gave 
cause  for  anyone  to  find  fault  with  him.  As  the 
years  went  by  and  he  was  promoted,  his  duties 
kept  him  more  and  more  in  close  attendance  on 
the  Pharaoh  and  prevented  him  from  being  con¬ 
tinually  in  his  wife’s  company — indeed,  he  was  often 
compelled  to  be  absent  from  home  for  considerable 
periods  on  end.  But  despite  all  that,  I  sent  thee 
my  oil ,  my  bread ,  and  my  clothing ,  and  it  was 
brought  to  thee .  I  did  not  send  it  elsewhere  (that 
is,  to  another  woman).  When  he  was  away  on 
duty  with  the  Pharaoh  his  wife  fell  sick  and  died, 
but  he  insists  that  he  never  once  failed  to  do  all 
that  an  affectionate  husband  could  do  in  the  cir¬ 
cumstances.  Behold ,  he  complains,  thou  dost  not 
know  the  good  I  have  done  thee .  I  sent  to  know  how 
thou  didst  fare ,  and  when  thou  was  sick  of  the  sick¬ 
ness  that  thou  hadst ,  I  sent  thee  a  chief  physician,  and 
he  prescribed  and  he  did  that  which  thou  didst  say 
shoidd  be  done .  When  1  accompanied  Pharaoh  on  a 
journey  to  Upper  Egypt ,  my  thoughts  were  ever  with 
thee ,  and  1  passed  my  stay  of  eight  months  without 
eating  and  drinking  like  a  man.  When  I  reached 
Memphis ,  /  petitioned  Pharaoh ,  and  I  betook  me  to 


GREAT  HYPOSTYLE  HALL,  KARNAK, 

View  looking  across  the  Uuv<  aisles.  (See  pp.  60  foil.) 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


25 


where  thou  art  (where  the  wife  lay  dead),  and  I  be¬ 
wailed  thee  exceedingly  along  with  my  household,  in 
front  of  my  dwelling.  I  gave  clothing  of  Upper 
Egyptian  linen  to  wrap  thee  in,  and  1  caused  much 
clothing  to  be  made  for  thee ,  leaving  no  good  thing 
for  thee  undone.  Now,  behold,  I  have  spent  three 
years  until  now,  remaining  as  I  am  and  not  entering 
into  a  house  (not  getting  married  ?),  though  it  is 
not  becoming  that  one  like  me  should  be  made  to  do  so. 

.  .  .  Behold,  thou  knowest  not  good  from  ill !  But 
one  shall  decide  between  thee  and  me  !  The  end  of 
the  letter  is  rather  amusing.  The  sick  man  thinks, 
perhaps  owing  to  his  previous  knowledge  of  the 
lady,  that  cajolery  will  pay  better  with  her  than  a 
threat  of  judgment  to  come.  So  he  ends  his  letter 
as  follows  :  Jdehold  the  sisters  in  the  house — I  enter 
not  in  unto  one  of  them  ! 

If  love  of  husband  and  wife  was  a  feature  of 
family  life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  still  more  so  was  the 
love  of  a  son  for  his  mother,  a  thing  that  is  still 
most  noticeable  among  the  modern  Egyptians,  the 
mother  always  occupying  the  first  place  in  her  son’s 
affections. 

The  following  admonition  addressed  by  the  Sage 
Ani  to  his  son  Khenshotpe  might  be  the  words 
of  any  good  Egyptian  father  of  to-day :  Double 

4 


26 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


the  'portion  of  bread  that  thou  givest  to  thy  mother , 
and  support  her  as  she  once  supported  thee  (in  her 
womb).  In  thee  she  carried  a  heavy  burden  and 
she  handed  it  not  to  me — (: i.e .,  I,  your  father,  could 
not  assist  her  in  carrying  thee).  When  thou  wast 
born  after  thine  ( appointed )  months ,  she  carried  thee 
yet  again  about  her  neck ,  and  for  three  years  she 
suckled  thee.  .  .  .  She  placed  thee  at  school  when 
thou  wast  instructed  in  writing ,  and  daily  she  waited 
there  with  bread  and  beer*  (for  thee)  from  her  house. 
When  thou  art  a  young  man  and  takest  to  thee  a 
wife ,  a7id  hast  thine  own  household ,  keep  before  thee 
how  thy  mother  hath  borne  thee  and  how  she  brought 
thee  up  in  all  manner  of  ways.  May  she  not  (be¬ 
cause  of  thy  neglect)  bring  evil  upon  thee  by  lifting 
up  her  hands  to  God ,  and  he  would  hear  her  cry. 

This  love  for  the  mother  did  not  exclude  the 
mutual  affection  of  father  and  son.  As  is  quite 
evident  from  the  inscriptions,  it  was  the  wish  of 
every  Egyptian  father  that  his  son  should  succeed 
him  in  his  office — should  sit  on  his  seat  after  he  was 
gone — and  it  was  a  son’s  duty  to  cause  his  father’s 
name  to  live.  In  fact,  piety  to  both  parents  was 
not  to  cease  after  death,  and  among  the  admonitions 

*  The  staple  food  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  of  both  sexes 
and  all  ages  and  ranks. 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


n 


of  the  sage  Ani,  from  which  a  quotation  has  already 
been  made,  we  find  the  following  exhortation : 
Offer  zv ate?'  to  thy  father  and  thy  mother  who  rest  in 
the  Wit ester n  Valley  (the  Theban  necropolis).  Leave 
not  that  undone ,  so  that  thy  so?i  may  do  the  like  for 
thee. 

The  custom  of  pouring  out  a  libation  of  water  at 
the  graveside  still  survives  in  Upper  Egypt  and 
Lower  Nubia,  and  is  regularly  practised  on  Friday, 
the  Muhammadan  Sabbath. 

How  deeply  an  Egyptian  son  could  love  his 
father  comes  out  very  clearly  in  an  inscription 
which  is  to  be  found  in  the  tomb-chapel  of  a 
certain  noble,  who  flourished  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty,  about  2500  b.c. 
Though  the  inscription  was  composed  a  thousand 
years  before  the  period  with  which  this  book  deals, 
yet  the  passage  in  question  so  admirably  illustrates 
the  point  raised  that  I  shall  hardly  do  amiss  in 
quoting  it :  I  caused  myself  to  be  buried  in  one 
tomb  with  this  Dau  (the  father  of  the  speaker),  in 
order  that  I  might  be  with  him  in  one  place  ;  ?iot, 
however ,  through  lack  of  ‘  means  for  making  two 
tombs  ;  but  I  did  this  in  order  that  I  might  see  this 
Dau  daily ,  in  order  that  I  might  be  with  him  in  one 


28 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


It  is  the  aim  of  the  writer  of  this  book  to 
eradicate  from  the  minds  of  the  general  public  the 
quite  erroneous  idea  that  the  Ancient  Egyptians 
were  a  gloomy  people,  people  who  were  always 
brooding  over  death  and  preparing  for  the  day  of 
buriah  On  the  contrary,  they  were  a  most  cheerful 
and  pleasure-loving  folk,  as  are  most  of  the  dwellers 
in  the  sunny  Mediterranean  lands.  As  we  shall 
see,  they  loved  a  good  song,  a  good  story,  and  were 
much  addicted  to  the  drinking  of  wine  and  beer. 
Among  them  were  men  of  resource  and  courage, 
as  well  as  artists,  poets  and  religious  thinkers. 
The  pillared  halls  and  reception-rooms  of  the 
wealthy  must  have  been  constantly  furnished  with 
hilarious  guests,  for,  like  their  modern  descendants, 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  Nile  Valley  were 
much  given  to  hospitality,  and  thoroughly  enjoyed 
entertaining  and  being  entertained. 

Thanks  to  the  numerous  paintings  in  the  tomb- 
chapels,  it  is  no  very  difficult  matter  to  reconstruct 
a  Theban  banquet,  which  would  have  taken  place 
in  one  of  the  pillared  rooms — either  the  north  or 
west  gallery,  or  the  dining-room.  The  men  and 
women  sat  side  by  side  on  cushioned  chairs,  among 
the  former  being  included  members  of  the  clergy, 
who  are  to  be  recognized  by  their  shaven  heads 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


29 


(see  Fig.  9).  Before  they  began  to  eat  and  drink,  the 
guests,  each  in  turn,  extended  their  hands  over  a 
basin  held  by  one  attendant,  while  another  poured 
water  over  them  from  a  ewer.  Having  wiped  their 
hands  on  the  napkin  with  which  they  were  each 


Fig.  9. — A  Theban  Dinner-Party. 

{After  Wilkinson.) 


provided,  they  were  fumigated  with  incense  and 
their  heads  were  anointed  with  liquid  scent  or  else 
with  a  lump  of  perfumed  grease.  As  the  incense¬ 
laden  air  of  the  crowded  reception-room  became 
warmer  and  warmer,  and  the  feasters  got  more  and 
more  heated  with  eating  and  drinking,  the  grease 
melted  and  ran  down  over  their  clothes  and  emitted 


30 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


what  was  considered  to  be  a  pleasant  perfume. 
Often  in  pictures  of  banquets  the  upper  portions  of 
the  guests’  white  linen  clothes  are  represented  as 
covered  all  over  with  yellow  streaks,  to  indicate 
where  the  liquefied  grease  has  trickled  down  from 
their  brows  !  The  female  guests  are  nearly  always 
depicted  as  crowned  with  a  garland  of  lotus  petals 
and  as  having  inserted  a  bud  or  full-blown  flower  in 
the  curls  of  their  wigs  just  above  the  forehead,  for 
in  ancient  Luxor  great  wigs,  like  those  in  vogue 
among  our  ancestors  in  the  days  of  Charles  II.  and 
William  and  Mary,  were  worn  by  both  sexes. 
The  pictures  also  represent  most  of  the  guests  as 
holding  a  lotus  flower  in  one  hand  and  occasionally 
as  presenting  it,  or  else  a  choice  fruit,  to  a  fellow 
guest  to  smell  or  taste  respectively.  The  lotus 
flower  seems  to  have  played  somewhat  the  same  part 
at  an  ancient,  as  the  cigarette  does  at  a  modern, 
Egyptian  entertainment. 

If  the  banquet  took  place  after  sunset,  the  room 
would  have  been  illuminated  by  means  of  oil  lamps 
placed  on  tall  pottery  stands.  These  lamps  were 
shallow  cups  or  saucers  furnished  with  one  or  more 
floating  wicks,  the  luminant  being  crude  castor  oil 
with  salt  put  in  it  to  keep  the  flame  from  smoking. 
As  Mr.  F.  LI.  Griffith’s  recent  experiments  in 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


31 


Oxford  have  shown,  a  very  strong  and  steady  white 
light  is  given  by  a  floating-wick  lamp  supplied  with 
crude  castor  oil,  provided  the  salt  is  not  omitted. 

Numbers  of  small  tables  loaded  with  food  of  all 
kinds  were  placed  beside  the  feasters,  whose  mode 
of  eating  was  not  entirely  in  accordance  with  our 
ideas  of  refinement.  A  great  lady  would  take 
possession  of  a  whole  duck,  and  holding  it  in  one 
hand  would  tear  pieces  off  it  with  the  other,  or  she 
might  be  seen  gnawing  at  a  whole  leg  or  shoulder 
of  mutton ! 

Great  wine-  and  beer-jars  stood  in  wooden  racks, 
jars  and  racks  being  begarlanded  with  flowers  and 
trailers  of  vine.  As  the  banqueters  ate  and  drank, 
minstrels  played  on  pipes,  lutes,  and  harps,  and 
vocalists  sang  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  music, 
rhythmically  clapping  their  hands  together  as  do  the 
Egyptian  singers  of  to-day.  While  the  musicians 
played  and  sang,  dancing-girls,  clad  in  little  else  than 
jewelry,  performed  all  manner  of  antics,  waving 
their  arms,  and  twisting  and  twirling  their  bodies 
now  this  way,  now  that.  The  servants  kept  plying 
the  guests  with  wine  and  yet  more  wine,  which  was 
drunk  out  of  gold,  silver,  or  beautiful  porcelain 
goblets.  In  one  tomb-chapel  of  the  early  Imperial 
Age  at  El-Kab  the  words  written  above  a  lady’s 


32 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


head  represent  her  as  saying  :  Give  me  eighteen  cups 
of  wine.  Behold  I  should  love  (to  drink)  to  drunken¬ 
ness.  My  inside  is  as  dry  as  straw  !  In  a  Theban 
painting  (see  Fig.  10)  a  lady  is  depicted  as  being 
on  the  verge  of  collapsing  altogether  under  the 
influence  of  the  merry  wine-god,  and  her  robe  has 
slipped  off  her  shoulder.  An  attendant  comes 
hurrying  up  with  a  receptacle,  but  alas  !  she  is  just 


Fig.  10. — An  Unfortunate  Incident  at  a  Theban  Dinner-Party. 

{After  Wilkinson.) 


too  late.  Since  such  an  episode  as  this  is  not  infre¬ 
quently  found  depicted  on  the  walls  of  a  tomb- 
chapel,  it  was  clearly  regarded  as  a  trifling  affair, 
the  usual  occurrence  at  a  feast.  So  there  was  no 
scandal  and  no  horrified  pause  in  the  proceedings. 
The  flautists  continued  to  breathe  their  soft 
melodies,  the  harpers  still  smote  the  chords,  and 
the  dancers  leapt  more  wantonly  than  ever,  while 


s&i&b ' •*? •?*  >**£ H-f,  a  *£■  ►»-  3  *  ‘ 

I  ./.  ;r’ ,  .<«&*.  wm*  .-i^-S-  V, ;•  .  -; .  >  ,•-  • .  V  ■ 


:^-3#  #?; 


flgSdtijgt  1 


.•%*«?!» 


!  ..  .......  /  '■  '■■^-■•Kt'*, 


/J'g-t'i.ritf  Jft  /te'ft' ■. 

TEMPLE  OF  KHONS,  KARNAK, 

View  looking  through  the  pylon  to  the  avenue  ot  sphinxes. 

(See  p.  62.) 


LIFE  IN  ANCIENT  LUXOR 


33 


the  musicians  sang :  Come,  songs  and  music  are 
before  thee  ;  set  behind  thee  all  cares ;  think  only 
upon  gladness — until  the  day  cometh  that  thou  shalt 
go  to  the  land  which  loveth  silence.  “  Carpe  diem  ” 
was  certainly  the  motto  of  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  Luxor.  It  cannot  surely  now  be  said  that  the 
Egyptians  were  a  dull  and  gloomy  people  and  that 
Egyptology  is  an  inhuman  study  !  Nay,  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  were  a  most  cheerful  un-Puritanical  people. 
There  was  indeed  no  room  for  Mrs.  Grundy  when 
they  made  merry  !  No  wonder  that  the  wise  Ani 
thought  it  necessary  to  warn  his  son  against  the 
evils  of  alcoholic  excess  :  Boast  not  that  thou  canst 
drink  a  pitcher  of  beer.  Thou  speakest,  and  an  un¬ 
intelligible  utterance  comes  from  thy  mouth.  If  thou 
fallest  down  and  breakest  thy  limbs,  there  is  no  one 
to  offer  thee  a  hand .  Thy  companions  in  drink  stand 
up  and  say,  “ Away  with  this  sot!  ”  If  there  cometh 
one  to  seek  thee  in  order  to  question  thee,  he  findeth 
thee  lying  on  the  ground  and  thou  art  (as  helpless) 
as  a  little  child. 

But  the  Theban  youths  seem  to  have  gone  their 
own  way,  and  paid  scant  heed  to  the  prating  old 
kill-joy !  Accordingly  we  find  a  teacher  writing 
reproachfully  to  a  fast  young  scholar  of  his  as 
follows:  They  tell  me  that  thou  dost  forsake  writing, 


34 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


and  dost  hanker  after  pleasures.  Thou  goest  from 
street  to  street ,  where  (?)  it  smells  of  beer,  to  destruc¬ 
tion  (?).  Beer ,  it  scares  men  [from  thee),  it  sends 
thy  soul  to  perdition .  Thou  art  like  a  broken 
steering-oar  in  a  ship,  that  pays  no  heed  to  either 
side.  Thou  art  like  a  shrine  without  its  god,  a  house 
without  bread.  .  .  .  Thou  sittest  with  the  wench 
and  art  besprinkled  with  scent;  thy  garland  of 
flowers  hangs  about  thy  neck  and  thou  drummest  on 
thy  paunch .  Thou  dost  reel  and  (then)  fallest  face 
downwards,  and  art  besmirched  with  dirt. 

So  the  heedless  youths  of  ancient  Egypt  were  as 
unwilling  to  be  studious  and  take  the  advice  of 
their  moralizing  elders  as  are  the  youths  of  to-day 
— and  of  all  ages  and  all  countries. 


CHAPTER  II 


HOW  THEBES  BECAME  THE  CAPITAL  OF  EGYPT 

During  the  Fourth  Dynasty,  that  is  to  say  the 
earlier  part  of  the  period  known  as  the  Old  King¬ 
dom,  a  period  of  about  400  years — 2900  b.c.  to 
2475  b.c.,  according  to  the  usually  accepted  dating 
— the  power  of  the  Pharaoh  was  absolute ;  the 
government  of  the  country  was  entirely  vested  in 
him,  even  the  office  of  vizier  being  held  by  his 
eldest  son.  Under  the  kings  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty 
this  absolutism  of  the  Pharaoh  underwent  some 
modification.  A  new  family,  probably  assisted  by 
other  noble  families,  attained  the  kingly  power,  and 
one  of  the  resulting  changes  was  that  the  office  of 
vizier  was  no  longer  the  perquisite  of  the  crown 
prince,  but  was  bestowed  upon  a  distinguished 
subject.  Breasted  has  suggested  that  some  sort  of 
bargain  was  made  between  the  heads  of  the  two 
most  influential  families  in  Egypt,  by  which 
the  one  received  the  crown  and  the  other  the 
viziership. 


35 


36 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


During  the  Fifth  Dynasty  also  the  governors  of 
the  different  provinces  into  which  Egypt  was 
divided  began  to  assert  themselves.  By  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty,  about  2625  b.c., 
Egypt  had  developed  into  a  feudal  state,  the  erst¬ 
while  local  governors  having  become  great  nobles, 
each  firmly  entrenched  in  his  own  domain  and 
exercising  an  hereditary  claim  upon  it.  Under  a 
strong  energetic  monarch  like  Piopi  I.  the  new 
system  would  have  seemed  harmless  enough,  for 
the  local  barons  supplied  him  with  all  the  troops 
and  artisans  he  required  for  his  expeditions  and  for 
the  execution  of  public  works.  But  the  evil  side 
of  the  system  immediately  became  manifest  under 
a  weak  sovereign.  Piopi  II.,  the  last  king  of  the 
Sixth  Dynasty  of  whom  anything  positive  is  known, 
ascended  the  throne  at  the  age  of  six  and  reigned 
for  at  least  ninety  years.  During  the  latter  part 
of  his  reign  his  grasp  on  the  sceptre  doubtless 
slackened  and  the  power  of  the  feudatories  grew 
apace.  Piopi  II. ’s  immediate  successors  seem  to 
have  been  too  weak  to  keep  their  vassals  in  order, 
as  were  also  the  shadowy  kings  of  the  two  next 
dynasties,  the  Seventh  and  the  Eighth,  who  are  said 
to  have  been  descendants  of  the  old  royal  house, 
and  to  have  still  retained  Memphis  as  their  capital. 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  ANCIENT  EGYPT 


37 


Here  they  may  have  reigned,  but  certainly  did  not 
rule,  for  Egypt  broke  up  into  a  collection  of  small 
states,  governed  by  petty  princes,  who,  formerly 
the  Pharaoh’s  obedient  vassals,  now  fought  in¬ 
cessantly  with  one  another  and  with  their  nominal 
overlord. 

The  barons,  who  were  continually  engaged  in 
private  war,  naturally  could  not  keep  order  in  their 
domains,  and  crime  was  everywhere  rife.  The 
state  of  affairs  is  thus  described  in  a  remarkable 
literary  composition  of  this  period,  the  so-called 
“  Admonitions  of  an  Egyptian  Sage”:*  Men  sit  over' 
the  bushes  until  the  benighted  traveller  comes ,  in 
order  to  plunder  his  load.  What  is  upon  him  is 
taken  away.  He  is  belaboured  with  bloivs  of  the 
stick  and  slain  wrongfully.  Under  such  conditions 
arts  and  crafts  were  neglected  and  decayed.  No 
craftsmen  work;  the  enemies  of  the  land  have  spoilt  its 
crafts.  Ipuwer,  the  author  of  these  “Admonitions,” 
describes  the  prevailing  anarchy  and  consequent 
topsy-turvy dom  in  picturesque  fashion.  The  land , 
he  exclaims,  turns  round  as  does  a  potter  s  wheel. 
The  whole  social  order  had  been  subverted,  and 
accordingly  we  are  informed  that  all  female  slaves 

*  A.  H.  Gardiner,  “The  Admonitions  of  an  Egyptian 
Sage,”  Leipzig,  1909. 


38 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


are  free  with  their  tongues .  When  their  mistress 
speaks  it  is  irksome  to  the  servants .  Again  :  Good 
things  are  in  the  land ,  yet  mistresses  of  noble  houses 
say ,  “  Would  that  we  had  something  to  eat !” 
Yet  again  we  read :  Great  ladies ,  who  were 
mistresses  of  goodly  things ,  give  their  children  in 
exchange  for  beds.  The  children  of  princes  are 
dashed  against  walls .  The  offspring  of  desire  are 
laid  out  on  the  high  ground.  .  .  .  The  poor  man 
is  full  of  joy.  Every  tovcn  says ,  “  Let  us  suppress 
the  powerful  among  us.”  This  is  Bolshevism  four 
thousand  years  before  Lenin  and  Trotsky  ! 

It  was,  of  course,  a  great  time  for  the  clever  and 
unscrupulous  speculator,  and  this  ancient  Egyptian 
revolutionary  period  produced  its  crop  of  nouveauoc 
7'iches  as  well  as  its  “  new  poor.”  He  who  once 
possessed  no  property  is  7iow  a  7iian  of  wealth.  The 
poor  of  the  land  have  become  rich.  He  who  had  no 
dependants  is  now  a  lord  of  serfs.  .  .  .  He  who  never 
built  for  himself  a  boat  is  now  a  possessor  of  ships. 
He  who  once  possessed  them  looks  at  them ,  but  they 
are  not  his. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  internal  disorders  pre¬ 
vailing  throughout  the  country,  a  horde  of  Asiatics 
— called  'Aamu  (see  Fig.  11)  by  the  Egyptians — 
invaded  Egypt  and  occupied  the  Delta,  a  calamitous 


INVASION  OF  ASIATICS 


39 


event  that  is  described  by  Ipuwer  as  follows : 
The  Desert  ( i.e.9  the  desert-dwellers)  is  throughout 
the  land.  The  provinces  are  laid  waste.  A  foreign 
tribe  from  abroad  has  come  to  Egypt.  Ipuwer  tells 
us  how  the  Delta  is  overrun  by  the  Asiatics  :  The 


Fig.  11. — A  Party  of  'Aamu. 

{After  Neivberry,  “ Beni  Hasan.”) 


tribes  of  the  desert  have  replaced  the  Egyptians 
everywhere.  Nowhere  are  there  Egyptians.  .  .  . 
Behold  the  Delta  is  in  the  hands  of  those  who  know 
it  not  as  those  who  once  knew  it.  The  Asiatics  are 
now  skilled  in  the  arts  of  the  Marshlands. 

Trade  with  abroad  was,  of  course,  at  a  standstill. 
No  longer ,  laments  the  sage,  do  men  sail  north - 


40 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


ward  to  By  bios. #  What  shall  we  do  then  for  cedars 
for  our  mummies ,  with  the  produce  of  which  priests 
are  buried ,  and  with  the  oil  of  which  chieftains  are 
embalmed  as  far  off  as  Crete  ?  They  come  no  more . 
Gold  is  lacking  ...  all  handicrafts  are  at  an  end. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  work  Ipuwer  laments 
that  Re',  the  sun-god  and  creator,  the  prototype  of 
all  earthly  kings,  had  suffered  mankind  to  multiply 
upon  the  earth,  and  had  not,  when  he  saw  men’s 
evil  nature,  suppressed  them  once  and  for  all  and 
prevented  the  propagation  of  further  trouble  and 
sin  :  It  is  said  (of  Re)  that  he  is  the  herdsman  of  all 
men  ;  there  is  no  evil  in  his  heart.  When  his  herds 
are  few  he  passes  the  day  to  gather  them  together .  .  .  . 
But  would  that  he  had  perceived  mens  nature  in  the 
first  generation ,  then  he  would  have  suppressed  evil ; 
he  would  have  stretched  forth  his  hand  against  it. 
But  men  desired  to  give  birth ,  and  so  sadness  grew 
up  and  needy  people  on  every  side.  Ipuwer  then 
bewails  the  fact  that  there  is  now  no  earthly  king 
who,  in  his  capacity  of  son  of  Re',  might,  a  very 
god  incarnate,  restore  order  and  bring  prosperity 
again  to  a  distracted  nation  :  There  is  no  pilot. 
Where  is  he  to-day  ?  Both  he  sleep  perchance  ? 
Behold ,  his  might  is  not  seen. 

*  A  Syrian  port  at  the  foot  of  Lebanon. 


SUPREMACY  OF  HERAKLEOPOLIS 


41 


Two  of  these  Seventh  to  Eighth  Dynasty  kings, 
Neferkauhor  and  Neferirkere'  II.,  have  left  records 
showing  that  their  authority  was  recognized  in 
Upper  Egypt.  But  this  authority  was  quite 
transitory.  After  the  lapse  of  some  years,  during 
which  time  baron  waged  war  on  baron,  the  powerful 
lords  of  Herakleopolis,  the  modern  Ehnaslyeh  el- 
Medlneh,  gradually  fought  their  way  to  a  position 
of  authority,  and  at  last  one  of  them  was  able  to 
assume  the  Pharaonic  titulary,  becoming  the 
founder  of  the  line  of  kings  comprising  the  Ninth 
and  Tenth  Dynasties.  The  Herakleopolitans 
maintained  their  supremacy,  perhaps,  for  some 
hundred  years  or  more,  their  monuments  being 
found  as  far  south  as  Coptos,  and  even  at  the  first 
cataract.  But  after  that  another  noble  family  came 
to  the  fore,  the  barons  of  the  Thebaid,  whose 
original  home  was  Hermonthis,  the  modern  Erment, 
but  who  at  an  early  stage  in  their  upward  career 
made  their  headquarters  at  Thebes.  They  were 
the  ancestors  of  the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Dynasty 
kings,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Theban 
hegemony  which  was  to  last  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years. 

When  we  are  once  more  in  possession  of  a 
consecutive  series  of  historic  documents,  we  find 

6 


42 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


that  the  power  of  the  Herakleopolitan  Pharaohs  is 
on  the  decline  and  that  they  and  their  Theban 
vassals  are  contending  for  the  supremacy. 

During  the  period  of  the  Herakleopolitan  domi¬ 
nation,  despite  the  foreign  occupation  of  the  Delta 
and  continual  warfare  with  the  south,  art  and 
especially  literature  seem  to  have  flourished  ;  indeed, 
some  of  the  most  remarkable  Egyptian  literary 
works  that  we  possess  appear  to  date  from  this 
age.  The  art  is  distinguished  by  a  remarkable 
naturalism,  similar  to  that  which  characterizes  the 
reliefs  and  paintings,  of  a  somewhat  later  date, 
which  decorate  the  tomb-chapels  of  the  feudal 
lords  of  Cusae,*  a  domain  that  was  well  within 
Herakleopolitan  territory.  Contemporary  decorated 
tomb-chapels  of  the  barons  of  Asyut  also  exist,  indi¬ 
cative  of  the  prosperity  and  wealth  of  this  district  and 
period.  The  reliefs  decorating  these  last- mentioned 
tomb-chapels,  however,  are  crude  as  compared  with 
the  characteristic  work  of  the  Herakleopolitan 
sculptors,  their  style  for  some  reason  or  other  being 
akin  to  that  of  the  more  or  less  contemporary 
productions  of  the  Theban  ateliei's. 

Certain  assertions  occurring  in  the  inscriptions 

*  See  A.  M.  Blackman,  “The  Rock-Tombs  of  Meir,” 
vols.  i.-iv.  (London,  1915-2#.) 


GROWTH  OF  THEBAN  POWER 


43 


which  are  to  be  found  in  these  Asyiit  tomb-chapels, 
indicate,  from  the  fact  that  they  are  so  very  emphatic, 
that  during  the  decline  of  the  Herakleopolitan  ascen¬ 
dancy  the  state  of  affairs  in  many  parts  of  Middle 
Egypt,  outside  the  Asyut  domain,  was  anything 
but  satisfactory.  Every  official  was  at  his  post ,  we 
read  ;  there  was  no  fighting ,  nor  any  shooting  an 
arrow .  The  child  was  not  smitten  beside  his  mother , 
nor  the  citizen  beside  his  wife.  There  was  no  evil 
doer.  Or,  again,  we  are  informed  that  when  night 
came  he  who  slept  on  the  road  gave  me  (the  feudal 
lord  of  Asyut)  praise ,  for  he  teas  like  a  man  in  his 
own  house;  the  fear  of  my  soldier  was  his  protection. 

Some  of  the  inscriptions  in  these  tomb- chapels 
at  Asyut  are  most  important  historical  documents. 
One  in  the  tomb-chapel  of  a  certain  baron  named 
Tefibi  tells  us  about  the  campaign  which  he  waged 
against  the  Thebans  on  behalf  of  his  Herakleopolitan 
overlord  King  Akhthoi.  The  baron  of  the  Thebaid 
was  chief  of  a  confederacy  of  the  southern  lords,  a 
confederacy  which  controlled  the  whole  country 
between  Aswan  and  a  city  some  way  north  of 
Abydos,  that  is  between  Abydos  and  Asyut. 
Tefibi  defeated  the  army  of  the  confederacy  and 
won  back  to  the  Pharaoh  territory  as  far  south  as 
Abydos.  However,  this  set-back  to  the  rising 


44 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


fortune  of  the  Thebans  was  not  lasting,  for  they 
soon  regained  Abydos  and  probably  a  considerable 
stretch  of  territory  to  the  north  of  it  as  well. 

A  very  interesting  literary  work  of  this  period, 
entitled  “  The  Instruction  which  King  Akhthoi 
made  for  his  son  MerikereV’  gives  us  a  lot  of  valuable 
information  as  to  contemporary  happenings.  King 
Akhthoi  speaks  of  trouble  in  the  Thinite  nome  or 
province — the  province  in  which  Abydos  was 
situated — and  this  he  ascribes  to  his  own  faulty 
policy.  He  is  here  doubtless  referring  to  his  final 
loss  of  that  town  ;  he  certainly  owns  to  loss  of 
territory  in  the  southern  extremity  of  his  dominions. 

Taking  advantage  of  his  quarrel  with  the 
Thebans,  the  Asiatics  in  the  Delta  appear  to  have 
caused  Akhthoi  considerable  trouble.  Accordingly, 
we  gather,  he  made  peace  with  the  southern  con¬ 
federacy,  acquiesced  in  his  losses,  and  turned  his 
attention  to  his  northern  frontier. 

He  seems  to  have  inflicted  a  defeat  upon  the 
Asiatics,  for  in  the  “  Instruction  ”  he  mentions  that 
he  plundered  their  cattle  and  carried  off'  captives.  In 
that  same  composition  his  son  Merikere'  is  advised  to 
strengthen  the  fortifications  of  Athribis,  the  modern 
Benha,  a  town  not  far  north  of  Cairo,  a  statement 
showing  that  during  the  latter  part  of  the  Tenth 


DECLINE  OF  HERAKLEOPOLIS 


45 


Dynasty  the  Asiatics  held  practically  the  whole  of 
the  Delta.  Merikere'  is  also  advised  by  his  father 
to  build  castles  along  his  northern  frontier  and  so 
protect  his  territory  from  further  invasion.  Akhthoi 
also  recommends  his  son  to  be  content  with  what 
he  has  got  and  not  attempt  reprisals  on  his  southern 
neighbours.  Akhthoi  points  out  that  owing  to 
the  cessation  of  hostilities  between  him  and  the 
Thebans,  trade  between  Upper  and  Middle  Egypt 
has  revived,  and  red  granite  is  being  imported  from 
Aswan  to  the  northern  capital. 

But  this  advice  points  only  too  clearly  to  the 
growing  weakness  of  the  Herakleopolitan  rule,  and 
Merikere  was  probably  the  last  of  his  line  to 
become  Pharaoh. 

That  the  Herakleopolitan  supremacy  was  rapidly 
passing  we  likewise  learn  from  the  inscriptions  in 
the  tomb-chapel  of  Baron  Akhthoi  of  Asyut,  who 
flourished  under  King  Merikere',  the  prince  to 
whom  King  Akhthoi’s  “Instruction”  was  addressed. 
An  insurrection  broke  out  and  Merikere'  had  to  fly 
for  refuge  to  his  loyal  vassal  at  Asyut,  who  put 
down  the  rebellion  and  restored  the  Pharaoh  to  his 
throne.  After  this  outburst  Baron  Akhthoi  seems 
to  have  passed  the  rest  of  his  days  ruling  in  peace 
over  his  domain. 


46  LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 

But  this  Akhthoi’s  successors  were  unable  to 
maintain  their  resistance  against  Thebes,  and  when 
Asyut  finally  fell  to  the  forces  of  the  warlike 
Southerners,  the  Tenth  Dynasty  came  speedily  to 
an  end. 

The  kings  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty,  seven  in  all, 
gradually  extended  their  sway,  but  it  was  not  till 
Amenemhet  I.,  the  founder  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty, 
obtained  the  throne,  that  the  Asiatics  were  finally 
driven  out  of  the  Delta.  Amenemhet,  it  would  seem, 
was  vizier  of  his  immediate  predecessor  Menthotpe 
IV.,  the  last  king  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty,  and  he 
must  either  have  dethroned  his  royal  master  or 
else,  what  is  more  likely  in  view  of  what  we  know 
of  his  character,  contrived,  thanks  to  his  high  posi¬ 
tion,  to  seize  the  crown  at  his  death. 

The  accession  of  Amenemhet  does  not  necessarily 
imply  the  rise  to  kingly  power  of  a  new  family ;  on 
the  contrary,  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  he 
belonged  to  the  same  royal  house,  but  to  a  younger 
branch  of  it. 

The  kings  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty,  though  they 
had  made  Thebes  their  headquarters,  were  appar¬ 
ently,  as  already  stated,  of  Hermonthite  origin, 
and  they  were  devoted  to  Mont,  the  local  divinity 
of  their  ancestral  home.  The  family,  or  branch  of 


AMENEMHET  I. 


47 


the  family,  to  which  Amenemhet  belonged,  had 
become  in  a  particular  sense  associated  with  Thebes, 
and  had  a  special  veneration  for  Amun,  the  god  of 
that  city.  Since  the  earthly  kingship  was  vested 
in  a  Theban  family,  the  divine 
kingship  naturally  was  vested  in 
the  Theban  god,  just  as  it  was, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  vested  in 
Khnum,  the  god  of  Herak- 
leopolis,  during  the  rule  of  the 
two  Herakleopolitan  dynasties. 

Accordingly  the  Theban  Amun 
(see  Fig.  12),  like  the  Herak¬ 
leopolitan  Khnum,  was  identi¬ 
fied  with  the  Heliopolitan  sun- 
god,  the  State-god  of  Egypt 
from  time  immemorial  (see  Fig-  12.  —  Amun  of 
below,  p.  67),  and  became 
Amunre.  Thus  under  the  kings 
of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  Thebes 
attained  the  religious  hegemony  of  Egypt.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  was  not,  as  later  under  the  kings  of  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty,  made  the  civil  capital,  though 
its  newly  acquired  religious  importance  entitled 
it  to  that  position.  The  reason  for  this  was  that 
Amenemhet  and  his  successors  found  that  it  was 


Thebes. 

( After  Erman,  “  Hand- 
buck  des  dgyptiscken 
Religion.") 


48 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


politically  more  suitable  to  have  the  centre  of 
administration  further  north,  and  accordingly  they 
founded  a  fortress-city  called  Ithtowi,  “  Seizer  of 
the  Two  Lands,”  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
modern  Lisht  and  just  north  of  the  Fayum  (which 
became  very  important  during  this  dynasty),  that 
is  to  say,  halfway  between  the  two  previous  capitals, 
Memphis  and  Herakleopolis. 

During  the  reigns  of  the  first  two  Amenemhets 
and  Sesostrises  the  feudal  system  still  continued, 
the  barons  governing  their  domains  in  semi-inde¬ 
pendence,  though  rendering  dues  and  service  (mili¬ 
tary  and  otherwise)  to  the  central  government. 
Under  Sesostris  II.  the  feudal  lords  reached  the 
height  of  their  wealth,  magnificence,  and  power, 
and  were  a  serious  menace  to  the  reigning  house  at 
Ithtowi.  Under  such  conditions  great  national 
undertakings  were  almost  impossible,  for  the 
revenues  were  largely  diverted  from  the  central 
treasury  into  the  pockets  of  the  feudatories. 

Sesostris  II.  s  successor,  Sesostris  III.,  was  a  man 
of  immense  strength  of  character,  masterful,  an 
able  administrator  and  organizer,  and  possessed  of 
considerable  military  ability.  He  is,  in  fact,  the 
first  Imperialist  of  whom  we  have  any  record. 
Fully  alive  to  the  danger  that  threatened  the 


t 


VIII 


3N 

COLONNADED  COURT,  TEMPLE  OF  LUXOR. 
Reliefs  on  walls  largely  the  work  of  Tut'enkhamun.  (See  p.  64.) 


SESOSTRIS  III. 


49 


central  government  at  the  hands  of  the  overpower¬ 
ful  feudatories,  he  proceeded  to  put  an  end  to  the 
existing  order  of  things  and  replace  the  local  rulers 
by  salaried  officials,  nominated  and  paid  by  the 
crown.  He  thus  established  a  centralized  bureau¬ 
cratic  system  of  government,  which,  surviving  the 
Hyksos  invasion  and  domination,  lasted  on  through¬ 
out  the  whole  succeeding  Imperial  Epoch. 

This  administrative  change  was  made  possible  by 


Fig.  13.  —  Egyptian  Soldiers  of  the  Time  of  Sesostris  III. 

{After  Newberry,  “  Beni  Hasan.”) 


Sesostris  IIl.’s  wars  in  the  Sudan,  which  resulted 
in  a  real  occupation  of  that  country,  probably  right 
up  to  the  fourth  cataract.  There  had  hitherto  been 
no  standing  army,  the  Pharaoh,  when  he  required 
soldiers  (see  Fig.  13),  calling  upon  one  or  more  of 
his  barons  to  supply  them,  and  often  to  accompany 
them  and  command  them  in  the  field.  But  Sesds- 
tris  III.,  however  the  troops  had  been  raised  in  the 
first  instance,  commanded  them  in  person  and  him¬ 
self  arranged  the  plan  of  campaign.  By  so  doing 

7 


50 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


he  gained  the  confidence  and  control  of  the  soldiers, 
who  must  soon  have  begun  to  transfer  to  him  the 
allegiance  they  owed  to  the  feudatories.  The  king 
thus  forged  a  weapon  with  which  he  was  not  only 
able  to  smite  and  subdue  the  Sudanese,  but  put 
down  the  semi-regal  independence  of  the  nobles. 
During  his  reign  we  see  the  hereditary  territorial 
ruler  becoming,  or  being  replaced  by,  the  town- 
mayor,  while  the  host  of  officials  that  once  thronged 
the  local  magnate’s  court  and  administered  his 
domain  became  responsible  only  to  the  central 
authority  at  IthtOwi. 

The  feudatories  once  abolished,  the  king  had  the 
entire  resources  of  the  country  at  his  disposal,  and 
he  promptly  proceeded  to  utilize  them  for  enter¬ 
prises  of  national  utility.  Forts  were  erected  at 
strategic  points  in  Nubia,  temples  were  built,  or 
enriched  with  gold  utensils  and  statuary. 

Sesostris  III.,  however,  was  largely  occupied  with 
wars  in  the  south  and  in  organizing  his  newly 
acquired  territory  and  his  newly  instituted  bureau¬ 
cracy.  It  was  his  successor,  Amenemhet  III.,  who 
carried  out  those  immense  engineering  and  architec¬ 
tural  undertakings,  which  were  the  glory  of  the 
period  and  marked  the  apogee  of  Middle  Kingdom 
magnificence. 


THE  HYKSOS  INVASION 


51 


After  the  death  of  this  last- mentioned  Pharaoh 
the  power  of  the  dynasty  rapidly  declined,  and  the 
country  was  once  more  plunged  into  the  state  of 
disorder  and  civil  strife  that  had  prevailed  when 
Amenemhet  1.  had  seized  the  reins  of  government 
some  two  hundred  years  previously. 

Professor  Eduard  Meyer  thinks  that  the  feudal 
barons,  who  had  seemingly  been  crushed  out  of  ex¬ 
istence  by  the  strong  Sesostris  III.  and  Amenemhet 
III.,  were,  owing  to  the  weakness  of  the  latter’s 
successor,  Amenemhet  IV.,  once  again  able  to  raise 
their  heads,  engineer  a  successful  rebellion,  and 
avenge  themselves  on  the  family  of  their  former 
subjugators  by  bringing  the  dynasty  to  an  end. 
Thereupon,  as  after  the  fall  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty, 
baron  waged  war  on  baron,  and  one  usurper  fought 
his  way  to  the  throne  only  to  be  hurled  from  it  by 
another.  Moreover,  now  as  then,  a  horde  of  Asiatics 
poured  into  the  Delta,  where  they  not  only  main¬ 
tained  their  position  for  over  a  hundred  years,  but 
at  one  time  extended  their  sway  over  the  whole  oi 
Egypt.  These  Asiatic  conquerors,  the  Egyptian 
historian  Manetho  tells  us,  were  called  Hyksos  by 
his  countrymen,  a  word  meaning  “  shepherd-  ”  or 
more  properly  “herdsman-kings'.”  Manetho  also 
relates  that  the  Hyksos  effected  the  conquest  of  the 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


52 

country  “  without  a  battle,”  and  that  they  were 
savage  and  cruel.  The  ease  with  which  the 
Egyptians  were  overcome  and  subdued  is  not 
only  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  land  was 
in  a  state  of  turmoil  due  to  the  breakdown  of  the 
central  government  and  the  existence  of  civil  strife, 
but  also  to  the  invaders  possessing  a  new,  and  to 
the  Egyptians  terrifying,  engine  of  war — the  horse- 
chariot.  Till  that  time,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind, 
no  wheeled  vehicles  and  no  horses  had  ever  been 
seen  in  the  Nile  Valley. 

The  regular  Egyptian  troops  consisted  of  in¬ 
fantrymen  armed  with  large  heavy  shields,  battle- 
axes  and  spears,  and  the  kind  of  fighting  in  which 
they  excelled  was  the  pitched  battle  in  massed 
formation  (Fig.  14).  The  Asiatic  archers  could 
dash  hither  and  thither  in  their  chariots,  pour  a 
hail  of  arrows  on  the  massed  Egyptian  troops,  and 
at  the  same  time  avoid  hand-to-hand  fighting,  in 
which  the  Egyptians  would  doubtless  have  had  the 
better  of  them.  Such  tactics  would  have  inflicted 
heavy  losses  on  the  Egyptians  and  at  the  same  time 
have  had  a  most  demoralizing  effect  upon  them,  for 
they  would  have  been  quite  unable  to  retaliate. 
Their  enemy’s  losses,  on  the  other  hand,  would  have 
been  comparatively  slight.  When  once  panic  had 


THE  HYKSOS  INVASION 


5i3 


Fig.  14. — Egyptian  Heavy-armed  Troops. 

( After  Wilkinson. ) 


seized  upon  the  Egyptians  and  their  serried  ranks 
had  been  shattered,  the  enemy  archers  dashing  in 
and  out  among  them  in  pursuit  would  have 


54 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


completed  their  demoralization.  After  one  or  two 
such  engagements  the  Asiatics  would  have  per¬ 
manently  established  their  moral  superiority,  and 
the  Egyptian  spirit  of  resistance  would  have  been 
utterly  broken.  Doubtless  what  Manetho  meant 
by  the  words  “  without  a  battle  ”  was  that  nothing 
in  the  nature  of  what  the  Egyptians  were  accus¬ 
tomed  to  regard  as  a  battle  had  been  fought,  that 
is  a  hand-to-hand  battle  between  opposing  masses  of 
heavy-armed  troops. 

The  Hyksos  established  their  headquarters  at 
Avaris,  a  fortress-city  probably  built  on  the  same 
site  as  that  occupied  later  by  the  Nineteenth 
Dynasty  city  of  Pi-Rafmesse,  “House  of  Harnesses,” 
the  Pelusium  of  the  Greeks.  From  here  they 
ruled  over  the  whole  of  the  Delta,  and  also 
exercised  authority  over  Upper  Egypt,  where  a 
native  dynasty,  with  its  capital  at  Thebes,  con¬ 
tinued  to  exist  in  a  state  of  vassalage  to  the 
Asiatics. 

During  the  latter  half  of  the  Hyksos  domination, 
which  is  supposed  to  have  lasted  for  over  a  hundred 
years,  the  native  kings  at  Thebes  were  constantly 
attempting,  with  varying  fluctuations  of  success 
and  reverse,  to  assert  their  independence. 

The  body  of  one  of  these  Theban  kings,  a  certain 


THE  WAR  OF  LIBERATION 


55 


Sekenenref,  is  preserved  in  the  Cairo  Museum. 
This  king  was  evidently  slain  in  the  thick  of  a  fight. 
A  blow  from  a  battle-axe  has  cleft  his  left  cheek, 
laying  bare  the  teeth  and  splitting  the  jaw-bone. 
Another  blow  from  the  same  weapon  has  penetrated 
deep  into  the  skull,  so  that  the  brain  has  exuded 
over  the  forehead.  There  is  also  a  wound  above 
the  right  eye,  probably  the  work  of  a  dagger  or 
spear,  and  the  teeth  have  bitten  through  the  tongue 
in  the  death  agony. 

Probably  this  Sekenenre'  is  the  native  king 
mentioned  in  the  tantalizingly  fragmentary  folk¬ 
tale,  which  relates  how  the  Hyksos  suzerain  at 
Avaris  sought  the  occasion  of  a  quarrel  with  his 
vassal  at  Thebes,  sending  him  a  messenger  to 
inform  him  that  his  overlord’s  sleep  at  Avaris  was 
disturbed  by  the  noise  of  the  hippopotami  in  a 
pond  at  Thebes — they  permit  me  no  sleep ,  day  and 
night  the  noise  of  them  is  in  my  ears .  Evidently 
the  Hyksos  king  was  successful  in  his  attempt,  and 
the  fighting  ended  disastrously  for  the  Thebans,  for 
not  only  was  Sekenenre  slain  in  battle,  but,  at  the 
beginning  of  his  successor  Kamose’s  reign  (see 
below,  pp.  84  foil.),  the  Hyksos  held  the  country  as 
far  south  as  Cusse.  There  is  reason  to  suppose  that 
previously  the  Theban  dominion  had  extended  as 


56 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


far  north  as  Eshmunen,  so  evidently  the  fight¬ 
ing  that  cost  the  Thebans  the  life  of  their  king 
also  caused  them  a  considerable  territorial  loss 
as  well. 

But,  as  we  shall  see  in  Chapter  IV.,  under 
Kamose’s  leadership  the  tide  turned  definitely  in 
favour  of  the  Thebans,  and  the  war  of  liberation 
was  finally  brought  to  a  triumphant  conclusion 
by  Ahmose  I.,  the  founder  of  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty. 

Under  the  kings  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  Thebes 
had  become  the  religious  centre  of  Egypt,  its  god 
Amun  being  identified  with  Ref-Atum  of  Helio¬ 
polis,  and  so  attaining  the  position  of  state-god. 
Ahmose  not  only  restored  to  Thebes  its  religious 
hegemony,  but  also  made  it  the  capital  city  of  the 
newly  re-founded  Empire.  Except  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  reign  of  Akhenaton,  who  for  religious 
reasons  made  his  capital  at  El-Amarna  in  Middle 
Egypt,  Thebes  retained  this  great  position  un¬ 
challenged  till  the  end  of  the  dynasty — namely,  for 
more  than  two  hundred  years.  Even  during  the 
Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Dynasties,  that  is  to  say 
during  a  period  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
when  for  strategical  reasons  Pi-Rarmesse  became 
the  residential  city  of  the  Pharaohs,  Thebes  still 


F  • 


HYPOSTYLE  HALL,  TEMPLE  OF  LUXOR. 

Central  aisle  erected  by  Amenhotpe  111.  This  l)uilding  was  never  completed. 


=B 


■ 


THEBES  THE  CAPITAL  OF  EGYPT 


57 


remained  the  religious  capital  of  the  Empire,  and 
also  in  many  respects  the  civil  capital  also.  Thus 
for  well  over  four  hundred  years  Thebes  may  be 
said  to  have  been  the  chief  centre  of  civilization, 
the  world’s  imperial  city. 


/ 


m' 


8 


CHAPTER  III 


THEBES,  THE  WORLD’S  FIRST  MONUMENTAL  CITY 

As  has  been  pointed  out  in  the  foregoing  chapter, 
the  real  greatness  of  Thebes — not  inaptly  called  by 
Professor  Breasted  the  world’s  first  monumental 
city  —  only  dates  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty,  when  Ahmose,  after  driving 
the  Hyksos  out  of  Egypt,  made  that  city  the 
administrative  as  well  as  the  religious  centre  of  the 
reconstructed  kingdom.  But  from  his  time  onwards 
every  Pharaoh  of  the  Imperial  Age  added  to  its 
splendours,  building  a  new  temple,  or  adding  to  or 
reconstructing  one  that  already  existed,  setting  up 
a  towered  gateway  here,  or  splendid  statues,  or 
obelisks,  there.  The  great  temple  of  Amun  at 
Karnak  alone  has  ten  such  gateways,  not  including 
those  of  the  smaller  temples  grouped  around  it. 
Thebes,  therefore,  well  deserved  the  epithet 
“  hundred-gated  ”  assigned  it  by  the  poet  Homer. 

Part  of  a  building  at  Karnak  erected  by  the 
famous  Dhutmose  III.,  about  whom  more  will  be 
said  in  Chapter  IV.,  is  shown  on  Plate  III.  The 

58 


BUILDINGS  OF  DHUTMOSE  III. 


59 


two  granite  pillars  which  once  helped  to  support  the 
roof  are  of  unusual  beauty  and  design.  One  dis¬ 
plays  the  lily,  the  badge  of  Upper,  and  the  other 
the  papyrus,  the  badge  of  Lower  Egypt. 

N  ot  far  off  lies  the  great  festival  hall  of  the  same 
king,  measuring  one  hundred  and  forty-four  feet  in 


Fig.  15. — Some  of  the  Botanical  and  Zoological  Specimens  brought  to 

Egypt  by  Dhutnmse  III. 

{After  Mariette,  ‘  ‘  Karnak. '  ’ ) 


width  and  fifty- two  in  depth.  The  roof  is  supported 
on  twenty  columns  in  two  rows  and  thirty-two 
square  pillars,  which  divide  the  building  into  five 
aisles.  The  columns  are  shaped  like  tent-poles, 
and  it  was  evidently  the  architect’s  intention  to 
reproduce  in  stone  a  huge  tent,  such  as  is  still 
erected  in  modem  Egypt  on  the  occasion  of  festivals 
for  the  reception  of  guests  and  for  the  performance 
of  religious  ceremonies  therein.  Attached  to  this 


60 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


hall  are  a  number  of  rooms,  in  one  of  which  are  the 
well-known  representations  of  trees,  plants  and 
animals  (see  Fig.  15)  which  Dhutmose  III.  brought 
back  from  Palestine  after  his  third  campaign,  and 
placed  in  a  combined  botanical  and  zoological 
garden. 

Magnificent  as  were  the  architectural  achieve¬ 
ments  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  Pharaohs  at 
Karnak,  they  were  completely  surpassed  by  those  of 
Seti  I.  and  Ramesses  II.  of  the  succeeding  Dynasty, 
whose  gigantic  columned  hall  (see  Plates  IV. 
and  V.)  ranks  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  the 
world.  This  hall  is  one  hundred  and  seventy  feet 
long  and  three  hundred  and  thirty-eight  feet  wide, 
and  it  covers  an  area  of  six  thousand  square  yards. 
The  roof  was  upheld  by  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  columns,  arranged  in  sixteen  rows.  The 
columns  in  the  two  central  rows  are  higher  than 
the  rest,  and  their  capitals  represent  the  fully 
expanded  umbels  of  the  papyrus  plant,  while  those 
in  the  other  rows  have  bud-capitals.  The  two 
central  rows  of  columns  forming  the  nave  are 
seventy-nine  feet  high.  The  roof  of  the  nave  is 
higher  than  that  of  the  aisles  on  either  side— the 
columns  there  being  only  forty -six  feet  high — thus 
enabling  the  hall  to  be  lit  by  clerestory  windows 


GREAT  COLUMNED  HALL  AT  KARNAK  61 


tilled  with  stone  gratings  (see  Fig.  16).  The  walls, 
ceilings,  and  columns  of  the  hall  are  decorated  with 
inscriptions  and  reliefs,  all  once  brilliantly  coloured. 
Even  now,  though  partially  ruined  and  with  its 
colouring  vanished  or  dimmed  by  age,  the  building 


Fig.  16. — Great  Columned  Hall  at  Karnak. 

(After  Maspero ,  ‘  ‘  Archeologie  egyptienne.  ’  ’ ) 


is  extraordinarily  impressive ;  but  in  its  pristine 
condition  it  must  have  been  overwhelmingly 
magnificent. 

Not  only  the  interiors  of  Egyptian  temples  were 
decorated  with  painted  reliefs  and  inscriptions,  but 
all  the  outer  walls  as  well,  and  also  the  towered 


62 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


gateways.  In  fact,  the  public  buildings  of  Thebes, 
temples  and  palaces  alike,  must  literally  have 
blazed  with  colour. 

Some  idea  of  the  brilliance  and  magnificence  of 
Imperial  Thebes  is  conveyed  to  us  by  certain 
passages  in  an  inscription  of  Amenhotpe  III., 
describing  a  great  towered  gateway  or  pylon  which 
he  erected,  that  now  known  as  the  third  Karnak 
pylon,  and  standing  behind  the  great  hall  of  Seti  I. 
and  Ramesses  II.  just  described.  We  are  told  that 
two  stelas  of  lapis-lazuli  were  set  up,  one  on  either 
side  of  the  entrance,  and  that  the  door  itself  was 
overlaid  with  gold  and  encrusted  with  lapis-lazuli 
and  precious  stones.  The  floor  was  overlaid  with 
silver,  and  the  flag-staffs  fastened  to  the  face  of 
either  tower  (see  below,  p.  66)  overlaid  with  gold, 
so  that  they  shone  more  than  the  heavens .  In  front 
of  the  pylon,  to  which  an  avenue  of  sphinxes  led 
up  from  the  river,  was  erected  a  colossal  statue  of 
Amenhotpe,  twenty  cubits  in  height.  A  similar 
avenue  of  sphinxes,  be  it  noted,  also  the  work  of 
Amenhotpe  III.,  connected  Karnak  and  Luxor 
temples  (see  Plate  VI.)  which  are  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  apart,  and  yet  another,  the  work  of  Haremheb, 
led  from  the  temple  of  Amun’s  consort  Mut  to  the 
tenth  pylon  of  the  temple  of  Amiin  himself. 


TEMPLE  LAKES  AND  GARDENS 


63 


An  important  and  beautiful  adjunct  of  the 
temple  of  Karnak,  as  indeed  of  every  Egyptian 
temple,  was  the  sacred  lake  (see  Plate  VII.),  upon 
which,  at  certain  festivals,  boats  containing  images 
of  the  gods  were  made  to  go  on  ceremonial  voyages. 
The  banks  of  such  lakes,  we  are  informed,  were 
planted  with  trees,  and  in  the  water  grew  blue  and 
white  lotus  flowers.  The  temple  of  Mut  was  half 
surrounded  by  its  sacred  lake,  and  on  the  mirror¬ 
like  surface  of  the  water  every  feature  of  the  build 
ing,  its  many  statues,  its  walls,  its  towered  gate¬ 
ways,  were  perfectly  reproduced. 

The  precincts  of  an  Egyptian  temple  were  not 
only  beautified  by  a  tree-encircled  pool,  but  a  con¬ 
siderable  part  was  laid  out  as  a  garden  planted  with 
all  flowers  (see  Fig.  45  on  p.  177).  Such  a  garden 
was  that  made  by  Dhutmose  III.  (see  above) 
when  he  returned  from  his  third  victorious  cam¬ 
paign,  and  the  famous  Papyrus  Harris ,  which 
enumerates  the  benefactions  of  Harnesses  III., 
contains  many  allusions  to  the  temple  gardens 
which  that  king  either  created  or  restored.  Thus 
we  are  told  that  the  temple  of  Amun  at  Pi- 
Ra'messe  was  furnished  with  large  gardens  and 
promenades ,  with  all  sorts  of  date-groves  hearing 
their  fruits ,  and  a  sacred  avenue  brightened  with 
the  flowers  of  every  land. 


64 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


After  that  vast  conglomeration  of  buildings,  the 
temple  of  Amun  at  Karnak,  the  most  magnificent 
structure  in  Egypt  is  surely  the  temple  of  Luxor. 
The  name  by  which  it  was  more  usually  known  to 
the  ancient  Thebans  was  Ipet-Isut  (Elect  of  Places), 
but  it  also  bore  the  designation  of  Southern  Harm 
of  A  mun.  This  temple,  as  we  now  know  it,  is 
mostly  the  work  of  Amenhotpe  1 1 1.,  the  Louis  XIV. 
of  ancient  Egypt.  Early  in  his  reign,  about 
1410  b.c.,  he  pulled  down  the  old  temple,  which 
dated  from  the  time  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty,  about 
2000-1800  b  c.,  and  erected  in  its  place  a  new 
sanctuary  and  the  usual  surrounding  chambers, 
which  latter  consist  of  the  sanctuaries  of  the  co¬ 
templar  divinities  and  rooms  in  which  special 
ceremonies  were  performed,  or  in  which  the  sacred 
vessels  and  vestments  were  stored.  In  front  of 
this  building  he  constructed  a  columned  hall,  later 
adding  a  magnificent  colonnaded  forecourt — the 
finest  in  Egypt.  Even  in  their  decay  the  colon¬ 
nades  (see  Plate  VIII.)  still  impress  one  with  their 
beauty,  and  they  form  one  of  the  fairest  visions  ever 
conjured  up  by  an  architects  imagination,  and 
materialized  by  him  in  enduring  stone. 

Amenhotpe  III.  also  began  to  build  in  front  of 
his  great  forecourt  yet  another  pillared  hall,  a  colossal 


NEFRETIRI. 

From  a  colossal  group  in  the  Temple  of  Luxor 


(See  p.  65.) 


TEMPLE  OF  LUXOR 


65 


structure.  But  alas !  this  great  undertaking  was 
never  carried  out,  for  the  Pharaoh  died  and  none 
of  his  successors  attempted  to  complete  the  work. 
Only  the  central  aisle  was  finished,  the  magnificent 
sandstone  columns  of  which  (see  Plate  IX.),  the 
tallest  hitherto  erected  in  Egypt,  tower  above  the 
rest  of  the  temple. 

These  columns  of  the  central  aisle,  fourteen  in 
number,  their  capitals  representing  the  outspread 
flowery  umbel  of  the  papyrus  plant,  are  no  less 
beautiful  than  they  are  tall,  the  proportions  being 
perfect.  They  would  have  been  considerably  taller 
than  the  columns  supporting  the  roof  of  either  of 
the  side  aisles,  so  that  the  hall  would  have  been  lit 
by  grated  clerestory  windows,  as  is  the  great  hypos- 
tyle  hall  of  Seti  I.  and  Harnesses  II.  at  Karnak. 

In  front  of  the  unfinished  hall  Ramesses  II.  con¬ 
structed  a  very  large  colonnaded  court,  to  which 
admittance  was  gained  by  a  great  pylon.  Before 
this  pylon,  which  is  decorated  with  reliefs  illustra¬ 
tive  of  Harnesses’  war  with  the  Hittites,  were  set 
up  six  colossal  statues  of  that  Pharaoh,  two  sitting 
and  four  standing,  and  in  front  of  them  again  two 
pink  granite  obelisks,  one  of  which  has  been 
removed  and  re- erected  in  the  Place  de  la  Con¬ 
corde  in  Paris. 


9 


66 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


On  the  face  of  each  tower  of  the  pylon  are  to  be 
seen  the  vertical  grooves  for  the  reception  of  the 
tall  wooden  masts,  a  feature  of  every  Egyptian 
temple — from  the  tops  of  which  fluttered  blue, 
green,  white,  and  red  flags  (see  Fig.  17). 


( After  Wiedemann ,  “ Das  alte  Agypten”.) 

The  south  end  of  Ramesses  II. ’s  court  is  decor¬ 
ated  with  standing  colossi  of  that  king,  arranged 
between  the  columns  in  the  first  row.  All  except 
one,  which  is  of  black  granite,  are  executed  in  red 
granite,  and  they  all  are  about  twenty-three  feet 
high.  On  either  side  of  the  doorway  leading  from 


4 

THE  PHARAOH’S  DIVINE  PARENTAGE  67 

this  court  into  the  unfinished  hall  of  Amenhotpe  III. 
is  erected  a  seated  colossal  statue  of  the  king  in 
red  granite,  with  his  beautiful  queen  Nefretiri 
standing  beside  him  (see  Plate  XIV.). 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  temple  of 
Luxor  bore  as  an  additional  name  that  of  Southern 
Harim  of  Amun,  a  name  requiring  some  explana¬ 
tion,  which  may  well  be  given  at  this  juncture. 

The  idea  prevailed  among  the  ancient  Egyptians 
that  the  Pharaoh  was  the  actual  physical  son  of  the 
sun-god  Re'-Atum,  the  god  of  the  city  of  Heliopolis, 
the  capital  of  Egypt  in  pre-dynastic  times.  Owing 
to  the  great  influence,  religious  and  political,  exer¬ 
cised  by  Heliopolis  on  the  rest  of  Egypt,  Re'-Atum 
became  for  all  time  the  Egyptian  State-god,  and 
was  regarded  both  as  the  first  king  of  Egypt  and 
also  as  the  prototype  of  all  subsequent  kings.  The 
Pharaoh  was  not  only  considered  to  be  the  son  of 
the  sun-god,  but  was  also  the  embodiment  of  that 
god  on  earth.  Accordingly  when  Thebes  became 
the  capital  of  Egypt  and  the  Theban  Amun  was 
identified  with  Re'-Atum,  the  Pharaoh  was  regarded 
as  the  son  and  earthly  embodiment  of  Amun. 

The  wife  of  the  ancient  king  of  Heliopolis  was 
high-priestess  of  Re'-Atum,  and  in  this  capacity, 
and  also  in  that  of  wife  of  the  sun-god’s  embodi- 


4 


68 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


ment,  was  identified  with  the  goddess  Hathor,  the 
sun-god’s  wife.  She  was  therefore  regarded  as 
earthly  consort  of  that  god,  and  it  was  through  her 
that  he  became  the  physical  father  of  the  Pharaoh. 
Later,  when  Amun  was  identified  with  the  sun- 
god  and  consequently  attained  the  position  of 
State-god  of  Egypt,  the  Theban  Pharaoh’s  wife 
became  Amun’s  earthly  wife  and  was  designated 
God’s  Wife  of  A  mun. 

Incorporating  himself  in  the  reigning  Pharaoh 
the  sun-god,  or  the  god  Amun  identified  with  him, 
had  intercourse  with  the  queen  and  so  begat  the 
heir  to  the  throne.  How  this  took  place  is  narrated 
by  the  priestly  scribes  of  the  Imperial  Age  in  the 
following  words  :  This  august  god  Amun ,  lord  of 
the  Thrones  of  the  Two  Lands  (i.e.,  Karnak),  came , 
when  he  had  made  his  mode  of  being  the  majesty  of 
this  her  husband ,  the  king  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt  N.  They  ( i.e .,  the  combination  of  god  and 
king)  found  her  as  she  slept  in  the  beauty  of  her 
palace.  She  awoke  because  of  the  savour  of  the  god , 
and  she  laughed  in  the  presence  of  his  majesty.  He 
came  to  her  straightway.  He  was  ardent  for  her. 
He  gave  his  heart  unto  her.  He  let  her  see  him  in 
his  form  of  a  god ,  after  he  came  before  her.  She 
rejoiced  on  beholding  his  beauty ;  his  love  it  went 


AM  UN’S  HUMAN  WIFE  AND  CONCUBINES  69 

through  her  body.  The  palace  teas  flooded  with  the 
savour  of  the  god ,  all  his  odours  were  as  (those  of) 
Punt.  Then  the  majesty  of  this  god  did  all  he 
desired  with  her.  She  let  him  rejoice 
over  her.  She  hissed  him.  .  .  .* 

An  important  feature  in  the  cult 
of  Amun  of  Thebes,  in  the  first 
instance  of  the  Heliopolitan  sun- 
god,  were  the  performances  of 
musician-priestesses,  who  danced, 
sang,  beat  their  single-membrane 
drums,  and  shook  their  sistra  or 
ceremonial  rattles  in  his  honour, 
both  in  processions  and  during  the 
celebration  of  the  temple  liturgy. 

When  thus  engaged,  they  con¬ 
sciously  impersonated  Hathor,  the 
wife  of  Re'-Atum,  and  in  certain 
temples,  that  of  Atum  at  Heliopolis,  and  Hathor 
at  Dendereh,  they  were  actually  designated  Hathor s 
(see  Fig.  18).  The  queen,  as  already  stated,  was 
the  God's  Wife ,  and  in  this  capacity  was  the  earthly 
embodiment  of  Hathor  par  excellence.  Naturally 
enough  the  musician-priestesses  who  were  sub- 

*  See  Blackman,  “  Journal  of  Egyptian  Archaeology,”  vii., 

p.  17. 


Guise  of  Hathor 
beating  a  Single- 
Membrane  Drum. 

[After  Mariette , 
“  Bender  ah  ”. ) 


70 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


ordinate  to  her,  and  whom  we  know  to  have  been 
attached  to  the  house  of  the  Gods  Wife  at  Thebes, 
were,  in  view  of  their  close  association  with  Hathor, 
regarded  as  Amun’s  (originally  the  Heliopolitan 
sun-god’s)  secondary  wives  or  concubines,  the  wife 
of  the  high- priest  of  Amun  bearing  the  title  of 
Chief  of  the  Concubines.  Luxor  Temple,  the 
Southern  Harim  of  A  mun,  was  probably  the  head¬ 
quarters  of  these  concubines,  and  it  was  here  also 
possibly  that  the  union  of  the  god  and  queen  was  sup¬ 
posed  to  take  place,  perhaps  on  the  occasion  of  the 
annual  New  Year’s  procession  (see  just  below  and 
pp.  foil.)  to  that  temple  from  Karnak.  This,  if  the 
suggestion  is  correct,  would  account  for  the  occur¬ 
rence  in  one  of  the  several  rooms  grouped  around 
the  sanctuary  of  Luxor  temple,  of  a  series  of  reliefs 
illustrative  of  the  divine  conception  and  birth  of 
the  Pharaoh.  A  similar  series,  decorating  a  wall  in 
the  temple  of  Hatshepsut  at  Deir  el-Bahri,  will  be 
discussed  in  Chapter  VII. 

In  a  chapter  professing  to  describe  some  of  the 
glories  of  ancient  Thebes,  an  account  must  be 
given  of  the  great  festival  of  Opet  in  honour  of 
Amun,  celebrated  annually  on  New  Year’s  Day, 
when  the  god  went  in  solemn  procession  from  his 
temple  at  Karnak  to  his  Southern  Harim  at  Luxor. 


THE  FESTIVAL  OF  OPET 


71 


A  series  of  reliefs,  occupying  the  walls  on  either 
side  of  Amenhotpe  III.’s  court  at  Luxor,  vividly 
depicts  what  took  place  at  this  festival.  The  reliefs 
were  executed  during  the  reign  of  T ut  enkhamun , 
but  were  usurped  by  his  next  successor  but  one, 
Haremheb,  who  everywhere  replaced  his  predeces¬ 
sor’s  name  with  his  own. 

Proceedings  began  with  the  presentation  of  food- 
and-drink  offerings  to  Amun,  his  consort  Mut,  and 
their  son  Khons,  in  their  respective  sanctuaries  in 
the  great  temple  of  Karnak.  The  first  of  the  series 
of  the  reliefs  in  question  shows  us  the  heaped-up 
offering  tables  standing  before  the  shrines  contain¬ 
ing  the  images  of  these  three  divinities,  and  Tut- 
'enkhamun  burning  incense  in  front  of  one  of  them, 
namely  that  containing  the  image  of  Amun. 

The  ordinary  Egyptian  shrine,  like  those  here 
depicted,  was  in  the  form  of  a  boat,  which  was  set 
on  an  altar-like  stone  pedestal,  the  place  in  the 
sanctuary  where  the  pedestal  stood  being  designated 
the  great  place.  In  the  centre  of  the  boat- shrine, 
covered  with  a  veil,  was  the  cabin  containing  the 
image ;  such  an  image  was  as  a  rule  quite  small — 
sixteen  inches  to  four  feet  in  height — and  made  of 
wood.  Poles  were  attached  to  the  boat  so  that  it 
might  be  carried  in  procession,  the  number  of  priests 


72 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


who  supported  it  varying  from  eight  to  twenty-four, 
or  even  twenty-six  (see  Fig.  19).  The  boat-shrine 
was  undoubtedly  in  the  first  instance  an  accessory 
of  the  Heliopolitan  sun-cult,  for  the  sun-god  was 
conceived  of  as  voyaging  in  a  ship  across  the  sky  by 
day  and  through  the  underworld  by  night. 


Fig.  19. — Boat- Shrine  carried  by  Priests. 

[After  Lepsius,  “  Denkmaler  aus  Aegypten  und  Aethiopien  ”.) 


It  might  here  be  pointed  out  that  the  priesthood 
at  every  Egyptian  temple  was  divided  into  four 
watches ,  or,  as  the  classical  writers  designated  them, 
phylce.  These  watches  are  named  after  the  four 
quarters  of  a  ship,  the  bow,  stern,  starboard,  and 
larboard  watch,  names  assigned  in  mythological 


XI. 


/ 


HEAD  OF  A  YOUNG  MAN. 

From  Tut'enkhamun’s  reliefs  in  the  Temple  of  Luxor.  (See  p.  71.) 


r 


THE  FESTIVAL  OF  OPET  73 

texts  to  the  four  watches  into  which  the  crew  of  the 
sun-god’s  celestial  ship  was  divided.  It  was  evi¬ 
dently  the  priests  of  the  Heliopolitan  sun-god  who 
were  first  divided  into  four  watches  bearing  these 
names,  for,  as  already  pointed  out,  the  sun -god  in 
particular  was  associated  with  a  ship  or  boat,  and 
his  priests  may  well  have  been  regarded  as  his 
crew. 

Offering  having  thus  been  made  to  the  Theban 
triad,  the  priests  took  the  sacred  boats  out  of  the 
sanctuaries  where  they  stood,  and,  raising  them  up 
so  that  the  poles  rested  on  their  shoulders,  carried 
them  out  of  the  temple  and  down  to  the  river  in 
solemn  procession,  twenty-four  priests  supporting 
each  boat.  In  front  of  and  behind  each  boat 
walked  a  flabellifer  (his  flabella  or  ceremonial  fan 
being  exactly  like  those  carried  beside  the  Pope  on 
great  occasions),  and  on  either  side,  in  addition  to 
the  twenty-four  priests,  walked  a  pair  of  officiants 
clad  in  panther-skin  vestments.  At  the  head  of 
each  of  the  three  groups  of  attendant-  and  bearer- 
priests  walked  a  thurifer  with  a  thurible  of  burning 
incense.  The  king  himself  followed  the  principal 
boat-shrine,  that  of  Amun,  on  foot.  At  the  head 
of  the  whole  cortege  marched  a  trumpeter  and  a 
drummer  (Fig.  20). 


10 


74 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


On  reaching  the  water’s  edge,  the  boat-shrines 
were  placed  on  board  large  vessels,  which  were 
towed  by  rowing-boats,  and  also  by  companies  of 
men  on  the  river  bank,  until  they  arrived  opposite 
the  temple  of  Luxor. 

The  ships  on  which  the  shrines  were  placed 

were  often  magnificent 
in  design  and  decora¬ 
tion.  Amenhotpelll. 
has  left  us  a  descrip¬ 
tion  of  a  ship  which  he 
caused  to  be  con¬ 
structed  for  the  con¬ 
veyance  of  Amun  on 
the  occasion  of  cere¬ 
monial  voyages  such 

Figl  20r-Tri™Peter  a£d  Drummer  as  that  under  diseus- 
neadmg  a  Religious  Procession. 

(After  Wilkinson.)  sion-  lt  was  fashioned 

of  new  cedar  -  wood , 
which  his  majesty  cut  upon  the  hill  country  of  To- 
Nuter  (Lebanon),  and  which  was  dragged  over  the 
mountains  of  Retenu  by  the  princes  of  all  foreign 
countries.  It  is  made  very  wide  and  long ;  never  was 
made  the  like  thereof  ( aforetime).  It  is  overlaid  with 
silver  and  inwrought  with  gold  throughout.  The 
great  shrine  (i.e.,  the  baldachin  amidships  under 


THE  FESTIVAL  OF  OPET 


75 


which  the  smaller  boat-shrine  was  placed)  is  of 
gold ,  and  it  fills  the  land  with  its  brightness.  The 
bows  of  the  vessel  were  adorned  with  great  crowns , 
their  serpents  coiling  on  either  side  thereof.  The 
shrine  had  in  front  of  it  flag-staffs  overlaid  with  gold 
and  a  pair  of  obelisks.  Hound  about  the  shrine 
were  set  up  small  figures  of  the  44  souls  ”  of  Buto  and 
Nekhen*  and  also  of  two  musician-priestesses,  the 
so-called  w^-priestesses  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt,  all  making  jubilation  in  honour  of  the 
divinity  within. 

As  the  flotilla  of  boats  made  its  way  up  the  river, 
a  great  accompanying  procession  of  people,  in 
addition  to  those  who  held  the  tow-ropes,  marched 
simultaneously  along  the  east  bank,  a  priest  at  the 
head  of  them  chanting  a  hymn  in  honour  of  Amun. 
This  procession  consisted  of  soldiers  armed  with 
spears  and  shields,  a  negro  drummer  and  negro 
dancers  who  performed  all  kinds  of  antics  (see 
Fig.  21),  musician-priests  and  musician-priestesses 
rattling  respectively  their  castanets  and  sistra, 
soldiers  carrying  standards,  two  royal  horse-chariots, 
a  lute-player,  a  number  of  priests  belonging  to 
the  higher  grades  of  the  hierarchy,  and  a  crowd 
of  Theban  citizens  who  sang  and  clapped  their 

*  See  below,  d.  117. 


76 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


hands  in  time  to  the  music.  On  arriving  opposite 
Luxor  the  boat-shrines  were  taken  out  of  the 
ships,  hoisted  on  to  the  shoulders  of  the  priests, 
and,  with  the  trumpeter  and  drummer  leading  the 
way,  were  borne  in  procession  into  Luxor  temple, 
the  musician-priestesses,  Amun’s  earthly  concubines, 
dancing  and  rattling  their  sistra  in  his  honour. 


Fig.  21. — Negro  Drummer  and  Dancers. 

{After  Wilkinson.) 

Having  entered  the  temple,  the  divine  visitors 
were  presented  with  a  plentiful  supply  of  food- 
and- drink  offerings,  which  were  consecrated  and 
solemnly  made  over  to  them  by  the  king  himself. 
Then,  in  the  evening,  they  and  the  accompanying 
cortege  returned  to  Karnak  by  water  and  river 
bank  in  much  the  same  order,  and  amid  the  same 
display  of  rejoicing,  as  when  they  had  set  out  for 
Luxor  in  the  morning. 

Festivals  like  these  were  celebrated  with  a  great 


REJOICINGS  AT  A  RELIGIOUS  FESTIVAL  77 


deal  of  eating  and  drinking  and  general  jollifi¬ 
cation,  and  the  temples  were  specially  endowed  in 
order  to  supply  the  hosts  of  visitors  and  worshippers, 
who  flocked  thither  on  such  occasions,  with  the 
food  and  liquor  wherewith  to  make  merry  and  be 
glad  in  the  god’s  honour. 

An  ancient  inscription  describes  such  a  festival 
in  the  following  terms  :  The  gods  of  heaven  shout 
for  joy,  shout  for  joy .  .  .  .  The  Hathors — (i.e.,  the 
musician-priestesses  impersonating  that  goddess) 
beat  their  single-membrane  drums.  .  .  .  The  in¬ 
habitants  are  drunk  with  wine ,  chaplets  of  flowers 
are  on  their  heads.  The  sailor  -  folk  {i.e.,  the 
crews  of  the  ships  that  have  conveyed  the  god 
and  his  attendant  divinities)  walk  joyously  about, 
anointed  with  the  finest  unguent.  All  the  children 
rejoice  .  .  .  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the 
sun. 

Drunkenness  was,  it  must  regretfully  be  con¬ 
fessed,  a  characteristically  Egyptian  conception  of 
happiness  and  an  almost  essential  part  of  the 
rejoicings  at  a  religious  festival.  This  is  well 
borne  out  in  part  of  a  popular  Theban  song  still 
preserved  to  us,  which  runs  as  follows :  How  happy 
is  the  temple  of  Amunre',  even  she  {i.e.,  the  temple 
personified  as  a  woman)  that  spendeth  her  days  in 


78 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


festivity  with  the  king  of  gods  within  her.  .  .  .  She 
is  like  to  a  woman  drunken ,  who  sitteth  outside  the 
chamber ,  with  loosened  hair.  ... 

The  Egyptians  are,  and  they  ever  have  been,  an 
intensely  conservative  people,  and  it  is  not  at  all 
surprising  that  this  festival  of  Opet,  despite  religious 
and  other  changes  and  the  passage  of  hundreds  of 
years,  still  survives  in  Luxor.  The  western  side 
of  the  first  colonnaded  court  of  Luxor  temple,  that 
erected  by  Harnesses  II.,  is  occupied  by  a  mosque 
to  which  a  school  is  attached  (see  Plate  XII.),  the 
mosque  containing  the  tomb  of  the  Sheykh  Yusef 
Abu’l-Haggag,  the  local  patron  saint.  Once  a 
year,  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  Muhammadan 
month  of  Sha'ban,  the  festival  in  honour  of  this 
saint  is  celebrated.  A  great  procession  passes 
through  the  principal  streets  of  Luxor,  stations 
being  made  and  prayers  recited  at  the  domed  tombs 
of  various  other  local  saints.  The  chief  feature  of 
this  procession  is  the  brightly  painted  and  beflagged 
boat  of  Abul-Haggag,  placed  in  a  cart  to  which 
ropes  are  attached,  and  thus  dragged  by  the  faithful 
through  the  streets.  The  accompanying  procession 
consists  of  gaily  caparisoned  camels,  soldiers,  mem¬ 
bers  of  various  religious  confraternities,  musicians, 
dancers,  fiklhs  reciting  the  Kuran,  and  troops  of 


THEBAN  LUXURY 

% 


79 


citizens — men,  women,  and  children — all  singing 
a  hymn  in  honour  of  the  saint.  * 

The  close  resemblance  of  the  ancient  and  the 
modern  festivals  to  one  another  is  most  remark¬ 
able,  and  must  be  something  more  than  a  mere 
coincidence ;  in  either  case,  it  will  have  been 
noticed,  the  composition  of  the  procession  is  almost 
identical. 

There  are,  however,  two  noticeable  differences 
between  the  ancient  and  modern  methods  of 
celebrating  the  festival.  Firstly,  the  sacred  boat  is 
dragged  along  on  a  wheeled  cart,  not  carried  high 
on  the  shoulders  of  priestly  bearers  or  towed  up 
and  down  the  river ;  and  secondly,  in  which  respect 
they  show  themselves  superior  to  their  pagan 
ancestors,  the  masses  of  the  people  nowadays  do 
not  drink  to  drunkenness. 

In  the  days  of  the  great  emperors  the  wealth  of 
the  known  world  flowed  into  Egypt.  The  har¬ 
bours  of  the  Delta  were  crowded  with  ships  of 
every  nationality,  loaded  with  merchandise  and 
with  the  tribute  and  presents  of  subject  and 
friendly  states.  These  ships  often,  too,  it  appears, 
sailed  right  up  the  Nile  to  the  Theban  docks  and 

*  See  G.  Legrain,  “  Louqsor  sans  les  Pharaons,”  Paris, 

1914,  pp.  81-91. 


80 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


there  disgorged  their  cargoes.  Furniture  overlaid 
with  gold  or  fashioned  of  precious  woods  inlaid 
with  ivory,  chariots  encrusted  with  gold  and  silver, 
horses  of  the  purest  breeds,  bronze  weapons  and 


Fig.  22.— Fragment  of  a  Painted  Ceiling. 

{After  a  drawing  by  the  Author  from  a  photograph.) 


armour  inlaid  with  gold,  gold  and  silver  vessels  of 
rare  design,  multicoloured  and  elaborately  patterned 
fabrics,  the  choicest  produce  of  the  fields,  gardens, 
vineyards,  orchards,  and  pastures  of  Palestine  and 
Syria,  incense,  sweet-smelling  woods,  perfumes, 
silver  and  gold  from  Asia  and  the  Sudan — all  these 


— 


XII 


Ipiif 

mm  6 


pm 


wf  ■ .! •  .v; ?. i 

;  ?ifH  rfr^iC*r,ffy 


tyTrJfXj 


mtimk 

afea»g 


ZxrA 

'fcjh 

-A-f 


m 


mmSm 


Sg&gM 


Slf 


«s  wHI 

, ...  #s&/ 

~1<:  '  '  ’’’"  —  ;:?■'  ,  .•<-■■ :j' 

;'.'f'  *-**•«.  ’  ’  .,..;<-.K'-,'‘'  .■  OO  »*(  ’  Vt  >'2£r“  ’ 


*kri,M 


- . 


**3Sk 


wy> 


NATIVE  SCHOOL. 

Constructed  among  the  half-buried  columns  of  the  great  forecourt.  Temple  of  Luxor. 

(See  pp.  76,  175  foil.) 


THEBAN  PALACES 


81 


were  brought  in  seafaring  ships  or  by  overland 
caravans  to  Egypt  and  the  Egyptian  capital.  We 
are  informed  that  the  solid  rings  and  ingots,  into 
which  the  precious  metals  were  cast,  lay  piled  up 
in  heaps  in  the  treasuries  and  were  measured  out 
by  the  bushel. 

Such  wealth,  as  was  to  be  expected,  considerably 
affected  the  lives,  tastes,  and  habits  of  Pharaoh  and 
subjects  alike.  The  houses  of  the  wealthy,  as  we 
saw  in  Chapter  I.,  were  often  finely  decorated  and 
furnished,  but  the  royal  palaces  were  beautiful  in 
the  extreme.  A  ceiling  in  a  palace  of  Amen- 
hotpe  III.  at  Thebes  displays  a  flock  of  pigeons 
and  many  large  red  butterflies  winging  their  way 
across  an  azure  sky  (see  Fig.  22).  On  the  floor 
beneath  the  artist  depicted  a  pool  of  water  full  of 
lotus  flowers,  fish,  and  swimming  duck,  the  action 
of  the  birds  being  splendidly  portrayed.  Only  a 
fragment  of  this  pavement  is  preserved,  but  no 
doubt,  as  in  the  palace  of  Akhenaton  at  El-Amarna, 
the  pool  was  surrounded  with  reeds,  bushes,  and 
flowering  plants,  amid  which  cattle  gambolled, 
while  above  the  flowers  and  bushes  flew  butterflies, 
dragon-flies,  and  gaily  plumaged  birds  (see  Fig.  23) 
Fragments  of  a  wall-painting  surviving  from  the 
above-mentioned  palace  of  Akhenaton  show  us  a 

11 


82 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


scene  of  family  life,  the  king  and  queen  seated  on 
chairs,  and  their  children  standing  at  their  parents’ 
knees  or  squatting  on  brocaded  cushions  placed  on 
the  carpeted  floor. 


Fig.  23. — Painted  Pavement  from  tlie  Palace  of  Aklienaton. 

( After  Petrie ,  “  El-Amarna By  the  courtesy  of  the  author.) 


The  decoration  of  the  columns  in  many  a  royal 
saloon  was  executed  in  brilliant  glazed  inlay  as 
well  as  in  paint,  and  a  great  deal  of  goldfoil  was 
also  employed.  At  El-Amarna  this  inlay-work 
took  the  form  of  convolvulus  plants,  or  gadding 
vines,  which  trail  over  the  shafts  of  the  columns  in 


THEBES  THE  MAGNIFICENT 


83 

riotous  profusion,  a  wonderful  adaptation  of  the 
realities  of  nature  to  the  exigencies  of  design. 

In  Ramesses  III.’s  palace  at  Tell  el-Yahudiyeh 
in  the  Delta,  now  alas !  completely  destroyed,  the 
walls  of  some  of  the  apartments,  instead  of  being 
frescoed,  were  decorated  with  glazed  plaques. 
Thousands  of  rosettes  for  inlaying,  and  a  number 
of  wonderfully  coloured  tiles,  representing  captives 
of  many  nations, #  are  all  that  survive  of  a  once 
most  beautiful  building. 

To  one  passing  Thebes  on  his  way  up  or  down 
the  Nile  a  wonderful  panorama  must  have  unfolded 
itself.  For  a  considerable  distance  on  either  bank 
of  the  river  one  temple  or  palace  after  another  lifted 
itself  up  above  the  trees  of  the  surrounding  gardens, 
the  brilliance  of  the  buildings  being  only  enhanced 
by  their  green  setting.  Rising  high  as  the  towered 
gateways,  the  tapering  gold-capped  obelisks  pointed 
finger-like  at  the  cloudless  sky,  and  in  the  blazing 
sunlight  of  the  orient  they  shone,  as  the  Egyptians 
themselves  said,  like  the  sun  in  the  horizon  of  heaven , 
so  that  the  two  lands  are  flooded  with  their  rays . 

*  See  Maspero,  “Art  in  Egypt, ”  London,  1912,  plate 
facing  p.  184 ;  also  Petrie,  “  A  History  of  Egypt,1’  iii. 
(second  edition),  London,  1918,  p.  160. 


CHAPTER  IV 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OE  WAR 

One  of  the  most  interesting  documents  discovered 
in  recent  years  is  the  so-called  Carnarvon  Tablet 
No.  1,  found  by  Lord  Carnarvon  in  a  plundered 
tomb  at  Thebes  in  the  year  1908.*  It  consists  of 
a  wooden  board  covered  on  both  sides  with  stucco, 
and  bearing  on  the  obverse  face  a  remarkable 
historical  text,  which  deals  with  an  episode  in  the 
expulsion  of  the  Hyksos  or  Shepherd- Kings.  The 
episode  in  question  occurred  in  the  reign  of  Kamose, 
the  immediate  predecessor  of  the  great  Ahmose  I., 
the  founder  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty. 

The  opening  passages  depict  Kamose  sitting  in 
his  palace  at  Thebes  and  taking  counsel  with  his 
courtiers  and  officers.  He  is  described  as  waxing 
indignant  at  the  thought  that  the  Asiatics  not  only 
occupy  the  whole  Delta,  but  Upper  Egypt  as  far 
south  as  Eshmunen,  while  Nubia,  which  the  Theban 

*  See  Alan  H.  Gardiner  in  Journal  of  Egyptian  Archer - 
ology,  iii.,  pp.  95-110;  Battiscombe  Gunn  and  Alan 
H.  Gardiner,  op .  cit. ,  v.,  pp.  45-48. 

84 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  85 


kings  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  had  conquered  and 
held  up  to  the  fourth  cataract,  is  now  ruled  over  by 
a  local  chieftain  !  To  what  end  am  I  cognizant  of 
it ,  this  power  of  mine ,  Kamose  bitterly  exclaims, 
when  one  prince  is  in  Avar  is  (the  Lower  Egyptian 
capital  of  the  Hyksos)  and  another  in  Nubia , 
while  1  sit  in  league  with  an  Asiatic  and  a  negro 
— each  man  with  his  slice  of  this  Egypt  ?  .  .  . 
Behold ,  he  (the  Asiatic  foe)  holds  Eshmunen ,  and 
no  man  is  at  ease ,  wasted  through  servitude  to  the 
Syrians. 

Such  a  situation  was  unendurable  to  Kamose. 
I  will  grapple  with  him ,  he  cries,  and  rip  open  his 
belly  ;  my  desire  is  to  deliver  Egypt  and  to  smite  the 
Asiatics.  But  the  great  men  of  his  council  urge 
caution.  They  are  all  for  safety,  and  they  point 
out  on  the  one  hand  how  strong  the  enemy  is,  and 
on  the  other  hand  that,  after  all,  their  position  is 
not  as  intolerable  as  the  Pharaoh  has  represented, 
for  Elephantine  (the  modern  Aswan)  is  strong ,  and 
the  middle  part  {of  Egypt)  is  with  us  as  far  (north) 
as  Cusce ;*  also  they  are  permitted  to  cultivate 
lands  outside  their  own  domain,  and  they  can  send 
their  cattle  to  pasture  in  the  Delta.  No,  they 
maintain,  let  things  be,  and  only  fight  if  attacked. 

*  The  modern  El-Kuslyeh  in  Asyut  province. 


86 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


This  counsel  of  “  safety  first  ”  found  no  favour  with 
the  patriotic  Pharaoh.  We  are  told  that  these 
advisers  were  displeasing  in  the  heart  of  his  majesty . 

.  ..  [Behold,  1  will  fight]  with  the  Asiatics.  Success 
will  come.  .  .  .  The  entire  land  [shall  acclaim  me 
the  powerful  rider]  within  Thebes ,  Kamdse ,  the  pro¬ 
tector  of  Egypt. 

The  king  accordingly  decided  on  a  forward 
policy,  and,  says  he,  1  sailed  down  stream  as  a 
champion  to  overthrow  the  Asiatics  by  the  command 
of  Amun  .  .  .  my  army  being  valorous  in  front  of 
me  like  a  blast  of  fire. 

Kamose  evidently  took  the  enemy  by  surprise, 
for  he  succeeded  in  shutting  up  the  Hyksos  army 
under  the  command  of  a  certain  Teti,  probably  the 
son  of  the  Hyksos  king,  in  the  town  of  Nefrusi,  just 
north  of  Eshmunen,  and  cutting  off  their  retreat. 
Having  accomplished  this,  I  spent ,  he  says,  the 
night  in  my  ship ,  my  heart  being  glad. 

The  attack  delivered  next  day  was  completely 
successful.  When  day  dawned  I  was  on  him  as  it 
were  a  hawk.  .  .  .  I  overthrew  him ,  I  destroyed  his 
wall,  I  slew  his  folk,  I  caused  his  wife  to  go  down  to 
the  river  bank  (so  as  to  take  her  back  in  triumph  to 
Thebes  in  one  of  his  galleys).  My  troops  were  like 
lions  with  their  spoil,  with  slaves,  herds,  fat,  and 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  87 


honey ,  dividing  up  their  possessions ,  their  hearts 
being  glad. ' 

By  such  vigorous  action  as  this  Kamose  played 
his  part  in  the  great  and  protracted  struggle  for  the 
liberation  of  Egypt. 

Kamose’s  successor  Ahmose  carried  on  and 
brought  to  a  successful  conclusion  the  work  of 
clearing  the  Hyksos  out  of  Egypt.  This  accom¬ 
plished,  he  invested  Sharuhen  in  Judah,  where  the 
Asiatics  had  entrenched  themselves,  and,  having 
taken  the  city  after  a  six-years’  siege,  finally 
destroyed  any  hopes  they  may  have  entertained  of 
reconquering  the  country  they  had  been  so  igno- 
miniously  compelled  to  evacuate. 

Dhutmose  1.,  the  third  king  of  the  Eighteenth 
Dynasty, was  a  hard-bitten  campaigner  like  Ahmose, 
the  founder  of  that  line.  In  the  second  year  of 
his  reign  he  led  his  army  into  Nubia  to  punish  the 
turbulent  desert  tribesmen  in  the  southern  half  of 
the  province,  who  had  started  to  attack  and  plunder 
the  Egyptian  fortresses  and  trading  settlements 
which  had  been  established  on  either  bank  of  the 
Nile  from  Aswan  to  some  distance  south  of  the 
second  cataract. 

The  expedition  set  out  from  Thebes  in  ships,  and 
arrived  at  the  first  cataract  some  time  in  February, 


88 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


or  early  in  March,  only  to  find  that  the  canal 
through  the  cataract  had  become  blocked  with 
stones.  As  immediate  action  was  urgent,  Dhut- 
mose  was  not  willing  to  wait  while  the  canal  was 
being  reopened.  Accordingly  his  admiral,  Ahmose 
by  name,  forced  a  passage  through  the  rapids. 
Later  on  in  the  voyage,  as  we  learn  from  his  bio¬ 
graphy,  inscribed  on  the  walls  of  his  tomb-chapel 
at  El-Kab,  Ahmose  again  distinguished  himself. 
I  showed  bravery  in  his  (the  king’s)  presence  in  the 
bad  writer ,  in  the  passage  of  the  ship  through  the 
cataract — (i.e.,  the  second  cataract). 

In  early  April  somewhere  between  the  second 
cataract  and  Tangur — Tangur  lies  about  seventy- 
five  miles  south  of  the  cataract — a  battle  took  place, 
in  which,  Admiral  Ahmose  tells  us,  the  king 
engaged  a  rebel  Nubian  chieftain  in  hand-to-hand 
combat.  His  Majesty  was  enraged  thereat  like  a 
panther.  His  Majesty  shot ,  and  his  first  arrow 
stuck  in  the  neck  of  that  fallen  one.  The  official 
account,  engraved  upon  a  rock  on  the  island  of 
Tombos,  which  lies  just  above  the  third  cataract, 
describes  the  result  of  this  expedition  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  terms :  He  hath  overthrown  the  chief  of  the 
Nubians ;  the  negro  is  limp  and  weak  by  reason  of 
his  grip.  .  .  .  The  Nubian  nomads  have  fallen  for 


XIII 


THE  NILE  AT  LUXOR. 

Cargo-boats  (gayas)  unloading  on  right  bank.  (CL  pp.  79  foil.) 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  89 


fear ,  thrown  down  throughout  their  lands ;  their 
stench ,  it  fills  their  valleys.  Their  mouths  are  ( dis ) 
coloured  {with  blood)  like  ( the  spouts  of)  rain- 
gutters. 

On  Tombos  Dhutmose  built  a  fort  and  furnished 
it  with  a  garrison.  Thence  he  returned  slowly  north¬ 
ward,  reorganizing  and  inspecting  the  country,  the 
Nubian  chief,  whom  he  had  slain,  hanging  head 
downwards  at  the  prow  of  his  ship.  When  he 
reached  the  first  cataract  he  ordered  the  old  canal 
to  be  cleared,  and  sailing  through  it  in  triumph — the 
corpse  of  the  Nubian  chief  still  decorating  his 
galley — proceeded  on  his  way  back  to  Thebes. 

The  most  remarkable  account  we  possess  of  an 
Egyptian  Pharaoh  in  time  of  war  is  to  be  found  in 
the  so-called  Annals  of  the  great  Dhutmose  III., 
who  has  not  inappropriately  been  designated  the 
Napoleon  of  the  Ancient  Orient.  These  annals, 
which  are  engraved  on  a  wall  in  the  temple  of 
Ivarnak,  hard  by  the  beautiful  floral  columns  shown 
on  Plate  III.,  are  mere  extracts  from  elaborate 
records  kept  by  a  certain  Thaneni  and  entered  by 
him  upon  leather  rolls.  1  followed  the  king  of 
Upper  and  Lower  Egypt ,  Menkheperre'  (Dhutmose 
III.),  Thaneni  tells  us.  I  beheld  the  victories  of  the 
king  which  he  won  in  every  foreign  land .  ...  I 

12 


90 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


recorded  the  victories  which  he  won  in  every  foreign 
land ,  putting  them  in  writing  according  to  the  facts. 

During  Dhutmose’s  joint  reign  with  that  re¬ 
markable  woman  Hatshepsut,  about  whom  more 
will  be  said  in  Chapter  YT.,  Egypt  seems  to  have 
lost  her  hold  on  her  dominions  in  northern  Palestine 
and  Syria.  The  local  dynasts  of  these  regions, 
whose  subjection  had  been  begun  by  Ahmose,  and 
completed  by  Amenhotpe  I.  and  Dhutmose  I., 
became  restive  under  petticoat  government,  and, 
forming  a  coalition  under  the  powerful  ruler  ol 
Kadesh,  they  broke  into  open  rebellion.  As  soon 
as  the  queen  was  dead,  Dhutmose  began  to  prepare 
for  the  reconquest  of  northern  Palestine  and  Syria, 
and,  late  in  the  second  year  of  his  sole  reign, 
April  19,  1479  b.c.,  we  find 'him  marching  with  his 
army  from  Tharu,  the  last  Egyptian  town  on  the 
north-east  frontier.  Nine  days  later,  April  28,  he 
reached  Gaza,  a  city  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles 
distant  from  Tharu,  and  proceeding  from  thence 
along  the  Palestinian  seaboard,  arrived,  possibly  on 
May  10,  at  Yehem,  a  town  some  ninety  miles 
distant  from  Gaza  and  situated  on  the  south¬ 
western  slope  of  that  range  of  mountains  at  the 
northern  end  of  which  rises  Carmel. 

Meanwhile  the  king  of  Kadesh,  having  marshalled 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  91 


his  forces,  advanced  south  to  oppose  the  Pharaoh, 
and  took  up  his  position  at  Megiddo,  a  fortress- town 
in  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  on  the  north-east  side  of 
the  Carmel  ridge. 

A  day  or  two  after  reaching  Y ehem  Dhutmose 
heard  from  his  spies  that  the  enemy  were  at 
Megiddo  in  force  and  intending  to  make  their  stand 
there.  Accordingly  on  May  13,  probably  early  in 
the  morning,  he  called  a  council  of  war.  The 
annals  profess  to  give  us  some  of  the  actual  words 
which  the  great  king  addressed  to  his  officers  on 
this  occasion.  Now  that  wretched  enemy  of  Kadesh , 
having  come  and  having  entered  into  Megiddo ,  is 
there  at  this  moment.  He  has  gathered  to  himself 
the  chiefs  of  all  the  countries  that  were  subject  to 
Egypt  as  far  as  Naharin.  .  .  .  He  has  said ,  so 
one  relates ,  4 4 1  am  ready  to  fight  against  his  majesty 
(the  king  of  Egypt)  here  in  Megiddo .”  Tell  ye  me 
that  which  is  in  your  hearts . 

Now  there  were  three  roads  to  Megiddo  from  the 
place  where  Dhutmose  held  his  council  of  war,  one, 
a  dangerous  route,  which  made  a  straight  line  for 
that  city  by  way  of  f  Aruna,  and  two  other  easier, 
but  more  roundabout,  roads,  leading  respectively  to 
the  north  and  south  of  it.  Evidently  in  the  course 
of  his  speech  Dhutmose  had  expressed  his  intention 


92 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


of  going  by  the  middle  road,  for  the  officers  are 
represented  as  replying :  How  is  it  possible  to  go 
upon  this  road ,  which  gets  narrower  ?  It  is  re¬ 
ported  that  the  enemy  is  there ,  standing  upon  the 
outside  ( of  the  pass),  and  they  are  numerous.  Will 
not  horse  go  behind  horse ,  and  the  troops  of  the 
people  (the  infantry)  likewise  ?  Will  our  vanguard 
be  fighting ,  while  our  rearguard  waits  here  in 
'  A  runa  without  fighting  ?  They  argue  that  the 
Pharaoh  should  go  by  one  of  the  two  easier  roads, 
and  not  cause  them  to  march  upon  this  difficult 
road. 

This  plea  for  caution  appeared  to  be  little  short 
of  rank  cowardice  to  Dhutmose,  who  blazed  forth 
in  indignation  :  I  swear  as  Re  loves  me,  as  my  father 
Amun praises  me,  as  my  nostrils  are  furnished  with 
life  and  good  fortune,  my  majesty  will  proceed  upon 
this  f Aruna  road.  Let  him  who  will  among  you  go 
upon  these  roads  whereof  ye  speak.  Let  him  who 
will  among  you  go  in  the  following  of  my  majesty. 
Let  them  not  say  among  the  fallen  foe,  whom  Re 
abhors,  “  Does  his  majesty  proceed  upon  another 
road  because  he  fears  us  V’  That  is  what  they  will 
say. 

Dhutmose’s  officers,  stung  by  this  rebuke, 
promptly  replied  :  May  thy  father  Amun,  lord  of 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  93 


Karnak ,  within  Luxor,  do  according  to  thy  desire  ! 
Behold ,  we  will  follow  thy  majesty  whithersoever  thy 
majesty  goeth  !  The  servant  is  behind  his  lord. 

The  council  broke  up  and  the  king  gave  the 
order  to  advance,  and  the  army  reached  f  Aruna  on 
the  evening  of  May  13.  We  are  informed  that 
during  this  march  Dhutmose  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  his  troops,  for  his  majesty  swore  an  oath , 
saying:  44 1  will  not  suffer  my  victorious  troops  to 
go  forth  in  front  of  me  in  this  place.  ”  Accordingly, 
his  majesty  determined  to  go  forth  in  front  of  his 
troops  himself  Every  man  was  made  to  know 
where  he  was  to  march ,  horse  being  behind  horse , 
while  his  majesty  teas  at  the  head  of  his  troops. 

During  the  night  of  the  13th  the  Egyptian  army 
encamped  at  the  town  of  'Aruna,  which  lay  half¬ 
way  along  the  'Aruna  road,  but  was  on  the  move 
again  early  the  next  day,  the  king,  with  a  statue  of 
the  god  Amlin  carried  beside  him,  again  leading 
the  host.  The  Egyptians  had  to  proceed  in  single 
file  along  the  narrow  road,  and  when  the  king  and 
the  vanguard  reached  the  mouth  of  the  pass, 
where  it  opened  out  into  the  plain  opposite 
Megiddo,  the  rearguard  was  still  at  'Aruna.  His 
officers  besought  Dhutmose  to  check  his  advance 
till  the  whole  host  was  clear  of  the  defile.  They 


94 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


said  unto  his  majesty ,  “  Behold  his  majesty  goes 
forth  with  his  victorious  troops ,  they  have  filed  the 
valley .  Let  our  victorious  lord  hearken  unto  us 
this  once.  Let  our  lord  guard  for  us  the  rear  of  his 
troops  and  his  people.  When  the  rear  of  the  host 
comes  forth  for  us ,  then  we  will  fight  these  Asiatics, 
then  we  shall  not  he  careful  for  the  rear  of  our  host.” 
Dhutmose  wisely  acceded  to  this  request  and 
guarded  the  approach  to  the  pass,  while  the  main 
body  of  the  troops  filed  through  the  gorge  along 
the  narrow  mountain  road.  Just  at  noon  the  last 
of  the  host  had  emerged  from  the  pass  and  the 
whole  body  of  troops  moved  forward  together, 
reaching  the  bank  of  the  river  Kina  at  7  o’clock. 
At  that  season  of  the  year  it  is  still  daylight  in 
Palestine,  and  so  there  was  time  for  the  troops  to 
encamp  before  darkness  fell.  The  Pharaoh’s  tent 
was  pitched,  and  the  command  was  issued  to  the 
army  :  Prepare  you?'selves,  make  ready  your 
weapons ,  for  one  is  to  advance  to  fight  with  this 
wr  etched  foe  at  daybreak.  Dhutmose  then  went  to 
seek  repose  in  his  tent,  the  staff  officers  and  other 
members  of  the  royal  entourage  were  supplied  with 
provisions,  while  to  the  sentries  on  their  rounds 
was  addressed  the  exhortation — Steady ,  steady  ! 
Watchful,  watchful!  A  special  guard  was  set  about 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  95 


the  royal  headquarters,  and,  before  the  Pharaoh 
finally  lay  down  to  sleep,  he  was  informed  that  all 
was  quiet  in  the  neighbourhood  and  all  well  with 
the  host. 

The  next  day,  May  15,  the  king  appeared  at 
dawn,  and  the  army  was  ordered  to  cross  the  valley 
of  the  Kina.  His  majesty ,  we  are  told,  proceeded 
in  a  chariot  of  gold,  clad  in  his  accoutrements  of  war , 
like  Horus  the  valiant ,  lord  of  achievement ,  like 
Mont  of  Thebes,  his  father  Amun  strengthening  his 
hands.  After  certain  manoeuvres,  by  which  the 
Egyptians  secured  a  position  which  precluded  any 
possibility  of  the  enemy  turning  their  right  flank, 
the  armies  met  in  the  clash  of  battle.  Dhutmose, 
we  are  told,  was  in  the  centre,  and  he  prevailed 
against  them  (the  enemy)  at  the  head  of  his  troops 
(see  Fig.  24).  When  they  saw  that  his  majesty  was 
prevailing  against  them,  then  they  fled  in  headlong 
rout  to  Megiddo  with  terror-stricken  faces.  They 
left  their  horses  and  their  chariots  of  gold  and  silver, 
and  the  people  drew  them  up  by  hoisting  (them)  with 
their  clothes  into  this  city,  for  the  people  of  this  city 
had  shut  them  out,  wherefore  they  let  down  clothes  to 
hoist  them  up  into  this  city. 

Evidently  the  enemy  had  encamped  between 
the  city  and  the  Egyptian  army,  having  no  inten- 


96 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


tion  of  submitting  to  a  siege,  for  the  victorious 
troops  immediately  gave  themselves  up  to  looting, 
and  so  lost  the  opportunity  of  taking  Megiddo  there 
and  then,  as  the  annalist  bitterly  complains. 
However,  a  goodly  spoil  was  obtained ;  horses, 


{After  C ar ter- Newberry ,  "  Tomb  of  Thutmosis  IV.”) 

chariots  of  gold  and  silver,  together  with  the 
silver-wrought  tent  of  the  king  of  Kadesh,  and  as 
for  the  enemy  warriors,  we  are  told  that  they  lay 
stretched  out  like  fishes  in  the  corner  of  a  net . 

Having  made  an  inventory  of  the  spoil,  the 
army  gave  itself  up  to  jubilation  and  gave  praise 
to  Amun  for  the  victory  which  he  had  given  to  his 


XIV, 


WIFE  OF  RAMESSES  II. 
Figure  standing  beside  the  colossal  statue  of  the  king. 


(See  p.  67.) 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  97 


son  this  day ,  and  they  cheered  the  king ,  extolling  his 
victory. 

But  what  Dhutmose  wanted  was  neither  booty 
nor  cheers,  but  the  capture  of  Megiddo,  and  he 
urged  on  his  army  to  the  assault.  He  pointed  out 
that  all  the  revolted  dynasts  were  within  those 
walls  that  confronted  them,  and  of  course  their 
capture  would  mean  the  smashing  of  the  con¬ 
federacy  once  and  for  all.  It  is  the  capture  of  a 
thousand  cities ,  the  capture  of  Megiddo ,  he  ejacu¬ 
lated.  Capture  ye  thoroughly ,  thoroughly  ! 

However,  for  some  reason  or  other,  no  direct 
assault  seems  to  have  been  made  on  the  fortress. 
The  Egyptian  army  beleaguered  it  instead,  sur¬ 
rounding  it  with  earthworks  and  cutting  down  all 
the  pleasant  trees  growing  in  the  neighbourhood, 
either  to  form  a  sort  of  palisade  or  else  to  support 
the  heaped-up  soil  and  stones.  In  course  of  time, 
probably  after  the  lapse  of  a  month  or  so,  Megiddo 
was  starved  out  and  surrendered.  Also  many  of 
the  dynasts  who  had  not  been  shut  up  within 
the  city  walls  came  and  made  submission  to  the 
Pharaoh.  But  the  king  of  Kadesh  had  escaped 
before  Megiddo  had  been  completely  invested,  and 
it  was  not  till  after  four  more  years  of  preparatory 
campaigns  that  Dhutmose  was  able  to  attain  his 

13 


98 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


main  objective,  the  capture  of  Kadesh,  which  he 
accomplished  in  his  sixth  campaign,  taking  it  not 
by  siege  but  by  assault. 

Amenhotpe  II.  seems  to  have  been  as  famous  a 
fighting  man  as  his  predecessor,  Dhutmose  111., 
on  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  whose  death  Syria 
promptly  revolted.  The  energetic  Amenhotpe 
immediately  marched  against  the  rebellious  dynasts, 
and,  meeting  them  in  battle  early  in  May,  1447  b.c., 
at  Shemesh-Edom,  in  northern  Palestine,  gained  a 
great  victory.  His  majesty ,  so  the  official  account 
of  the  battle  informs  us,  furnished  an  example  of 
bravery  there ;  his  majesty  himself  fought  hand  to 
hand .  Behold  he  was  like  a  fierce-eyed  lion ,  smiting 
the  countries  of  Lebanon.  We  learn  also,  on  the 
same  authority,  that  in  this  engagement  Amen¬ 
hotpe  took  with  his  own  hand  eighteen  prisoners 
and  sixteen  horses. 

On  May  12  he  crossed  the  Orontes,  probably  at 
Senzar,  and  then  made  for  the  Euphrates.  After 
making  this  crossing,  Amenhotpe  engaged  in  a 
hand-to-hand  conflict  with  some  enemy  chariotry. 
The  already-quoted  inscription  tells  us  that  his 
majesty  raised  his  arm  in  order  to  scan  the  horizon . 
Then  his  majesty  descried  some  Asiatics  coming  on 
horses  ( i.e .,  in  chariots  drawn  by  horses),  advancing 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  99 


at  a  gallop.  To,  his  majesty  was  decked  with  his 
accoutrements  of  war.  .  .  .  They  (the  Asiatics) 
retreated  when  his  majesty  looked  at  one  of  them . 
The  inscription  is  much  broken  at  this  point,  but 
we  gather  that  the  king  attacked  the  foe  with  his 


Fig.  25. — A  Pharaoh  carried  in  Triumph  through  the  Streets  of  Thebes. 

{After  Lep sius. ) 

spear,  and  captured  at  least  one  Asiatic,  together 
with  his  chariot,  horses,  and  accoutrements,  the 
last  consisting  of  a  coat  of  mail,  two  bows,  a 
quiver  full  of  arrows,  and  a  corselet. 

During  this  campaign  Amenhotpe  entirely 
crushed  the  revolt,  and  brought  back  with  him 
to  Egypt  seven  of  the  revolted  Syrian  dynasts. 


100 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


He  went  up  to  Thebes  by  river,  and,  as  he  drew 
near  the  city,  these  unfortunates  were  suspended 
alive,  head  downwards,  from  the  prow  of  his 
vessel.  Passing  along  the  streets  of  his  capital 


Fig.  26. — The  Pharaoh  sacrificing  Prisoners  of  War  in  the  Presence  of 

a  Divinity. 

{After  Lepsius.) 


in  triumph  (see  Fig.  25),  he  proceeded  to  the 
temple  of  Amun,  where,  by  way  of  expressing  his 
gratitude  to  the  god  for  having  given  him  the 
victory,  he  sacrificed  with  his  own  hand  the  seven 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  101 


poor  wretches  in  the  god’s  presence  (see  Fig  26). 
Six  of  the  bodies  were  hanged  upon  the  walls  of 
Thebes,  but  the  seventh  was  sent  to  Napata,  the 
capital  of  Nubia,  to  be  hanged  upon  the  walls  of 
that  city  as  a  warning  to  the  Sudanese  of  what 
would  befall  them  if  they  dared  rebel  against  the 
Egyptian  king. 

It  is  related  that  there  was  no  one  who  could 
drawr  Amenhotpe  II.’s  bow,  because  his  strength 
was  so  much  greater  than  that  of  any  king  who  has 
ever  existed ,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
bow  was  actually  found  in  his  tomb.  Professor 
Breasted  thinks  that  we  have  here  the  origin  of 
the  story  told  by  Herodotus,  how  the  Persian 
Cambyses  was  unable  to  draw  the  bow  of  the  king 
of  Ethiopia. 

Just  at  the  end  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty 
great  movements  were  taking  place  among  the 
peoples  of  the  sea ,  as  the  Egyptians  designated  the 
inhabitants  of  the  north-eastern  Mediterranean 
lands  and  the  Greek  islands.  Conspicuous  among 
these  peoples  were  the  Peleset  and  the  Thekel, 
the  former  eventually  colonizing  the  Palestinian 
coast,  and  better  known  to  us  under  the  name  of 
Philistines,  while  the  latter  were  possibly  a  branch 
of  the  pre- Greek  Sikeloi  or  Sicilians.  Associated 


102 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


with  the  Peleset  and  Thekel  were  the  Denyen 
(Danaoi),  Sherden,  Weshwesh,  and  Shekelesh. 
All  these  peoples  were  forcing  their  way  south 
both  by  land  and  sea,  probably  being  driven 
forward  by  the  pressure  of  other  migrant  peoples 
in  their  rear.  By  the  beginning  of  Ramesses  III.’s 
reign  the  Peleset  and  their  confederates  had  pushed 
their  way  down  into  northern  Syria  as  far  as  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Orontes,  and  their  ships  were 
actually  creeping  up  the  mouths  of  the  Nile  and 
harrying  the  Delta  ports  and  the  fertile  lands 
adjacent  thereto. 

The  Libyans  had  invaded  the  western  Delta 
in  the  reign  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty  Pharaoh 
Merneptah,  and  had  been  thoroughly  defeated. 
But  during  the  period  of  anarchy  that  intervened 
between  the  death  of  that  Pharaoh  (about  1215  b.c.) 
and  the  accession  of  Ramesses  III.  (about  1198  b.c.), 
the  Libyans  plucked  up  courage  again  and  started 
plundering  and  harrying  north-western  Egypt,  just 
as  they  had  done  in  the  past  before  they  felt  the 
weight  of  the  Pharaoh’s  hand.  Growing  bolder 
and  bolder,  they  now,  under  their  king  Thermer, 
determined  upon  an  invasion  on  the  grand  scale, 
with  the  intention  of  permanently  occupying  and 
settling  down  in  Egyptian  territory.  To  make 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  103 


more  certain  of  accomplishing  their  aim,  they  made 
common  cause  with  the  sea-rovers,  some  of  whom 
joined  their  land  forces.  A  great  combined  attack 
was  made  on  Egypt  both  by  land  and  from  the  sea, 
and  Ramesses,  who  had  been  preparing  for  this  on¬ 
slaught,  engaged  them  in  battle  near  the  fortress- 
town  named  (later,  of  course)  User  mare  -Miamun  is 
Chastiser  of  the  Libyans.  A  joint  land  and  naval 
action  was  fought,  in  which  the  Pharaoh  displayed 
great  personal  valour.  He  is  described  as  being  a 
youth  like  a  gryphon  ...  a  bull  ready  for  battle  ; 
his  steeds  were  like  hawks.  The  Libyans  are  said  to 
have  been  slain  in  their  places  in  heaps  before  his 
horses ,  Ramesses  being  like  Mont  (the  warrior-god) 

.  .  .  charging  into  hundreds  of  thousands ,  mighty  in 
valour ,  stretching  the  bow ,  and  shooting  the  ar?*ows 
whithersoever  he  will.  The  invading  hordes  were 
thus  totally  routed,  twelve  thousand  being  slain, 
and  a  thousand  or  more  taken  prisoner.  The 
hostile  fleet  was  destroyed,  all  the  ships  being  sunk 
or  captured. 

The  captives  and  a  vast  amount  of  booty  were 
brought  to  the  palace  to  be  displayed  before  the 
king,  who  inspected  them  from  the  balcony,  the 
nobles  and  courtiers  standing  below  and  acclaiming 
their  victorious  sovereign.  A  certain  number  of 


104 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


the  prisoners  were  sacrificed  by  the  king  to  Amun, 
who  had  granted  him  the  victory. 

Security  was  thus  restored  to  the  western  D  elta, 
where  there  had  been  no  security  for  years,  and 
Ramesses  boasted  that  a  woman  could  now  walk 
abroad  as  she  pleased  with  her  veil  raised  and  suffer 
no  molestation. 

But  the  sea-rovers  who  had  rendered  naval  and 
military  assistance  to  the  Libyans  in  the  western 
Delta,  were  no  more  than  the  advanced  guard  of  the 
mighty  host  pressing  on  into  Syria.  The  Syrian 
dynasts  were  quite  unable  to  resist  the  over¬ 
whelming  flood  of  invaders — a  concourse  of  nations 
on  the  march.  All  the  Hittite  country  in  northern 
Syria  was  overrun  and  the  Hittite  power  in  that 
region  broken  for  ever.  Still  further  south  the 
kingdom  of  Amor  was  overwhelmed  and  devastated. 
Conjointly  with  their  advance  by  land,  these  semi- 
barbarous  hordes  attacked  by  sea  with  their  for¬ 
midable  fleets,  ravaging  the  coast  towns  of  western 
Cilicia  and  of  the  north  Syrian  littoral.  Those  they 
attacked  seem  to  have  been  so  stricken  with  terror 
that  only  a  feeble  resistance  was  put  up. 

Ramesses  III.  alone  kept  his  head  and,  deter¬ 
mining  to  defend  his  Empire,  prepared  for  the 
coming  onslaught  with  great  energy.  He  fortified 


/ jffe  >  Apt  fi r  i  fi/t  //  f*  if 

DEIR  EL-BAHRI. 
General  view  of  Queen  Hatshepsut’s  temple  at  Thebe 


(See  pp.  128,  135,  162  foil.) 


' 


■ 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  105 


his  Syrian  frontier  and  having  equipped  a  large 
and  powerful  fleet,  distributed  it  among  the 
various  Syrian  ports  which  were  included  in  his 
dominion.  He  tells  us  in  one  of  the  long  in¬ 
scriptions  still  to  be  read  on  the  walls  of  the  temple 
of  Medlnet  Habu,  how  he  caused  the  harbour- 
mouths  to  be  equipped  like  a  strong  wall  with  war¬ 
ships ,  galleys ,  and  barges .  They  were  manned, 
completely  from  bow  to  stern  with  valiant  warriors 
bearing  their  arms ,  soldiers  of  all  the  choicest  of 
Egypt,  being  like  lions  roaring  upon  the  mountain- 
tops.  ...  I  was  the  valiant  Mont,  stationed  before 
them,  that  they  might  behold  the  graspings  of  my 
hands,  ( even  the  hands  of)  the  king  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt,  Usermare ,  son  of  Re,  Ramesses- 
Prince-of-On.  I  behaved  as  one  who  strides  boldly 
forward,  one  who  is  conscious  of  his  might,  far- 
reaching  of  arm,  who  rescues  his  troops  in  the  day  of 
battle. 

Harnesses  led  his  army  in  person  into  Syria  and 
threw  all  his  forces  against  the  invaders.  Exactly 
where  the  battle  was  fought  is  not  known,  but 
it  is  not  likely  to  have  taken  place  further  north 
than  Amor.  The  Medlnet  Habu  reliefs  show  us 
the  Pharaoh’s  troops  breaking  through  the  enemy’s 
lines  and  plundering  their  ox-carts,  in  which  the 

14 


106 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


barbarous  northerners  conveyed  their  women, 
children,  and  goods. 

Having  won  this  important  land  battle,  the 
energetic  king  hurried  to  the  sea-coast  to  take  part 
in  a  naval  action,  which  was  fought  between  his 
navy  and  the  fleet  of  the  sea-rovers  off  one  of  the 
Phoenician  ports.  On  each  Egyptian  vessel  were 
stationed  a  number  of  the  famous  Egyptian  archers, 
whose  effective  shooting  decimated  the  forces  on 
board  the  enemy  ships  before  they  could  get 
alongside  to  board  the  Egyptian  ships.  Egyptian 
archers  were  also  stationed  on  shore,  and,  under 
the  king’s  personal  direction,  poured  a  hail  of  arrows 
on  to  the  hostile  fleet  (see  Fig.  27).  The  Egyptian 
ships  then  made  for  the  ships  of  the  enemy,  which 
had  now  been  thrown  into  confusion,  and  the 
troops  proceeded  to  board  them.  The  above- 
quoted  inscription  at  Medmet  Habu  thus  describes 
the  naval  fight :  As  for  those  who  assembled  before 
them  (the  Egyptians)  on  the  sea ,  the  full  flame  (the 
Egyptian  fleet)  confronted  them  at  the  harbour - 
mouth ,  and  a  wall  of  metal  (the  Egyptian  infantry) 
enclosed  them  upon  the  shore .  They  were  dragged , 
overturned ,  and  cast  down  upon  the  beach  ;  they  were 
slain  and  heaped  up  from  stern  to  bow  of  their  vessels, 
everything  was  cast  upon  the  water .  As  for  the 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  107 


survivors  who  swam  to  shore,  they  were  captured  by 
the  Egyptian  soldiery  on  the  beach. 

Thus  Harnesses,  thanks  to  his  foresight  and  his 
elaborate  preparations,  averted  the  disaster  that 
threatened  not  only  his  Asiatic  dominions,  but 
ultimately  indeed  the  eastern  portion,  if  not  the 
whole,  of  the  Delta. 


Fig.  27. — The  Egyptian  Naval  Victory  off  the  Coast  of  Phoenicia. 

{After  Rossellini,  ‘  ‘  Monumenti  Storici.  ”) 


The  two  sea-fights  described  above  are  the 
earliest  that  history  records  for  us,  and,  as  has  often 
happened  since,  they  decided  in  either  case  the 
issue  of  a  war. 

But  after  a  short  respite  the  north-west  frontier 
of  Egypt  was  again  threatened.  The  Libyans 
were  invaded  by  the  Meshwesh,  a  kindred  people 
living  to  the  west  of  them,  and  were  forced  by 
them  into  an  alliance  against  Egypt.  Meshersher, 
king  of  the  Meshwesh,  we  are  told,  wished 


108 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


to  settle  with  his  subjects  in  the  rich  Delta 
lands.  “  We  will  settle  in  Egypt”  So  spake  they 
with  one  accord ,  and  they  continuously  entered  the 
boundaries  of  Egypt.  At  the  end  of  the  eleventh 
year  of  Ramesses  III.  these  Meshwesh  began 
seriously  to  invade  the  fertile  plains  of  the  western 
Delta,  just  as  they  had  done  in  the  days  of 
Merneptah,  some  forty  to  fifty  years  before,  and 
proceeded  to  invest  an  Egyptian  fortress  called 
Hatsho',  lying  about  eleven  miles  from  the  edge  of 
the  western  desert.  Ramesses  engaged  the  enemy 
in  battle  outside  this  fortress,  from  the  walls  of 
which  the  Egyptian  archers  poured  down  a  de¬ 
structive  hail  of  arrows.  Caught  between  two  fires, 
the  invaders  were  routed  and  fled,  and  in  their 
flight  had  to  pass  another  fortress,  where  they 
proved  an  easy  target  for  the  archers  stationed  on 
the  walls,  and  suffered  further  casualties.  Ramesses 
drove  the  invaders  right  out  of  Egypt  and  back 
into  the  wilderness  from  which  they  had  issued. 
Meshersher,  king  of  the  Meshwesh,  and  his  father 
were  captured,  more  than  two  thousand  of  the 
enemy  were  slain,  and  an  equal  number  were  made 
prisoners,  a  quarter  of  them  being  women.  All 
these  unfortunates  were  enslaved,  men,  women,  and 
children  alike,  and  were  branded  with  the  royal 


SOME  GREAT  KINGS  IN  TIME  OF  WAR  109 


victor’s  name.  Some  were  handed  over  to  the 
captains  of  archers  and  turned  into  mercenary 
soldiers,  and  nearly  a  thousand  were  appointed  to 
tend  a  herd  of  cattle  belonging  to  the  god  Amun. 

This  was  the  last  war  of  the  last  of  the  great 
Egyptian  War-Lords,  who,  if  the  official  accounts 
are  to  be  believed,  himself  figured  conspicuously  in 
the  fighting.  The  heart  of  his  majesty  was  enraged , 
even  as  ( that  of)  Baal  in  heaven  ;  his  whole  body  was 
endowed  with  strength  and  might.  He  betook  him¬ 
self  ...  to  lay  hold  of  multitudes  on  his  light  hand 
and  on  his  left ,  meeting  their  very  selves ,  advancing 
like  an  arrow  against  them  to  slay  them.  His 
strength  was  mighty ,  like  that  of  his  father  Amun. 
Keper  (the  father  of  the  Meshwesh  king)  came  to 
salam  .  .  .  he  laid  clown  his  arms  together  with  his 
soldiers.  He  cried  at  the  top  of  his  voice  to  beseech 
his  sons  aid.  Paralyzed  (?)  were  his  feet  and  his 
hands ,  and  he  stood  stiff  in  his  place.  He  (i.e.,  the 
Pharaoh)  is  the  god  who  knew  his  (Keper’s)  inmost 
thoughts ,  even  his  majesty ,  who  came  down  upon 
them  (the  enemy)  like  a  mountain  of  granite.  They 
were  crushed ,  laid  out ,  brought  down  to  the  ground , 
their  blood  was  all  about  them  like  a  flood ,  their 
bodies  crushed  on  the  spot ,  trampled  upon.  .  .  . 
Happy  are  his  (the  Pharaoh’s)  counsels,  his  plans 


110 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


have  been  achieved.  He  returns  to  his  palace ,  his 
heart  cheered.  He  is  like  a  rapacious  lion  roaring , 
[from  whom]  the  goats  flee  away — the  king  of  Upper 
and  Lower  Egypt ,  User  mar  e'-Miamun,  son  of  Re, 
Ramesses-  Prince  -of -On.  As  for  Egypt  —  their 
hearts  rejoice  at  seeing  his  victories ;  they  exult  with 
one  accord  over  the  plight  [of  the  foe]. 


CHAPTER  V 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 

The  three  most  remarkable  of  those  very  remark¬ 
able  rulers  who  constitute  the  Eighteenth  Egyptian 
Dynasty  are  undoubtedly  Dhutmose  III.,  Queen 
Hatshepsut,  and  Amenhotpe  IV.  (otherwise  known 
as  Akhenaton,  or,  to  be  more  correct,  Okhnaton). 
Some  idea  of  Dhutmose’s  military  prowess  and  of 
his  strength  of  character  can  be  gained  from  what 
has  been  said  about  him  in  the  previous  chapter, 
while  the  quotations  from  Amenhotpe  I  V.’s  famous 
hymn  in  Chapter  VI.  will  reveal  something  of  the 
charm  of  this  extraordinary  Pharaoh’s  personality 
and  of  the  magnitude  of  his  achievements  in  the 
field  of  religion  and  thought.  The  aim  of  this 
chapter  is  briefly  to  set  forth  the  life  and  works  of 
Hatshepsut,  perhaps  the  greatest  woman  that  the 
Near  East  has  ever  produced,  certainly  the  first 
woman-individualist  in  history — the  first  woman 
who  attempted  to  show  that  woman  can  rival  man 
in  political  life,  aye  and  in  some  spheres  even 
surpass  him. 


Ill 


112 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


Dhutmose  I.,  who  has  appeared  in  Chapter  IV.  in 
the  guise  of  a  somewhat  ferocious  warrior,  had  two 
wives,  the  hereditary  princess  Ahmose  (a  descendant 
through  her  mother  of  the  great  Nefretiri,  the  wife 
of  king  Ahmose  I.),  and  Mutnofret  (a  daughter  of 
Amenhotpe  I.,  but  not  an  hereditary  princess — that 
is  to  say,  not  of  solar  rank).  By  Queen  Ahmose 
Dhutmose  had  a  daughter,  Hatshepsut,  and  by 
Mutnofret  a  son,  who  afterwards  became  Dhut- 
mose  II.  Hatshepsut  was  not  only  Dhutmose  I.’s 
elder  child,  but  also  the  hereditary  princess  of  the 
blood  royal. 

Towards  the  end  of  his  reign,  when  Hatshepsut 
was  aged  about  twenty-four,  Dhutmose  I.,  appar¬ 
ently  having  fallen  into  a  feeble  condition  of  health, 
associated  his  daughter  with  him  on  the  throne  and 
proclaimed  her  his  successor — nay,  more,  he  actually 
had  her  crowned  as  ruler  of  Egypt  during  his  life¬ 
time  ;  indeed,  this  association  virtually  amounted  to 
the  king’s  abdication.  Such  a  proceeding  as  this 
was  unheard  of,  for  hitherto  no  woman  had  ever 
occupied  the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs,  except 
perhaps  the  shadowy  Nitokris,  who  is  supposed  to 
have  reigned  in  her  own  right  at  the  end  of  the 
Sixth  Dynasty,  a  period,  however,  of  anarchy  and 
confusion. 


' 


XVI 


DEIR  EL-BAHRI. 

View  towards  Karnak  from  the  so-called  Birth-Hall  in  the  temple  of  Hatshepsut. 

(See  p.  162.) 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 


113 


So  abnormal,  indeed,  was  this  enthronization  of  a 
woman,  that  all  the  reliefs  executed  during  Hat- 
shepsut’s  reign,  that  depict  her  as  acting  in  this  or 
that  capacity,  represent  her  in  the  habit  of  an 
ordinary  Egyptian  Pharaoh,  and  assign  her  a  male 
figure.  If  it  were  not  for  feminine  terminations 
and  feminine  pronouns  in  the  accompanying  in¬ 
scriptions,  no  one  would  have  any  idea  that  what 
we  have  before  us  is  a  woman  masquerading  as  a 
man.  But  despite  the  employment  of  feminine 
terminations  and  feminine  pronouns,  no  attempt 
was  made  to  create  a  feminine  form  of  the  word 
nesut  (“  king  ”)  or  the  compound  nesut-biyet  (“  king 
of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  ”). 

An  inscription  in  the  temple  of  Deir  el-Bahri 
gives  an  account  of  the  events  leading  up  to  the 
elevation  of  Hatshepsut  to  the  throne,  but  puts  it 
in  a  mythological  rather  than  in  an  historical  form. 
W e  are  told  that  the  princess  grew  up  gi'eater  than 
anything ,  more  beautiful  to  behold  than  anything. 
.  .  .  Her  majesty  grew  up  to  be  a  beautiful  maiden , 
fresh  in  her  youth.  Apparently  she  went  on  several 
journeys  with  her  royal  father  to  Lower  Egypt,  and 
on  every  occasion  all  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  the 
land  met  her  and  showed  her  the  good  way.  They 
came  and  brought  her  all  the  life  and  the  good 

15 


114 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


fortune  that  they  bestow ,  and  they  encompassed  her 
with  their  protection .  One  led  the  other ,  and  they 
went  round  about  her  every  day.  They  said  “Wel¬ 
come,  welcome,  daughter  of  Amun!  Behold  thou 
thine  administration  in  the  land.  Thou  dost  dispose 
it.  Thou  dost  restore  what  is  decayed  in  it.  Thou 
makest  thy  monuments  in  our  temples.  Thou 
suppliest  the  food-tables  of  him  who  begat  thee ”  (i.e., 
Arnunre').  These  divinities,  having  enumerated 
all  her  achievements  and  good  works, — they  speak 
as  though  she  were  accomplishing,  or  had  already 
accomplished,  them  as  actual  ruler — then  promise 
her  the  reward  of  length  of  days  and  happiness, 
assuring  her  at  the  same  time  that  her  boundary 
will  be  as  wide  as  heaven,  extending  to  the  limits  of 
the  twilight. 

We  are  told  that  on  one  of  these  journeys  to 
the  north  she  visited  Heliopolis,  the  religious  and 
political  centre  of  Egypt  in  early  times,  its  god, 
Ref-Atum,  the  sun-god,  as  pointed  out  in 
Chapter  III.,  being  regarded  as  the  first  king  of 
Egypt  and  the  prototype  of  all  Egyptian  kings, 
while  the  Pharaoh  on  his  part  was  considered  to  be 
the  actual  physical  son  of  the  sun-god — that  god’s 
embodiment  on  earth. 

Every  Egyptian  Pharaoh,  it  would  seem,  in 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 


115 


order  to  legitimize  his  rule,  had  to  visit  Ref-Atum 
in  his  temple  at  Heliopolis,  there  to  be  recognized 
both  as  his  offspring  and  as  king.  Accordingly 
Hatshepsut  would  have  the  world  to  understand 
that  she,  too,  had  received  this  recognition  at  the 
hands  of  the  sun-god  at  Heliopolis,  and  a  series  of 
reliefs — unhappily  much  defaced — in  the  middle 
colonnade  of  the  temple  of  Deir  el-Bahri  depicts 
the  queen’s  visit  there. 

We  see  four  divinities  leading  Hatshepsut  into 
the  presence  of  Re-Atum,  the  sun-god,  who 
welcomes  her  and  promises  her  the  everlasting  years 
of  Horus,  and  that  she  shall  lead  the  flat  lands  of 
Egypt,  and  make  tributary  the  ( foreign )  hill- 
countries,  while  she  lives  like  Re'. 

The  diadems  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  are 
then  brought  to  be  placed  on  her  head  by  Horus 
and  Seth,  who  represent  respectively  the  Lower 
and  Upper  country  (see  Fig.  28),  and  who  establish 
the  two  mistresses*  on  her  brow,  and  she  assumes  the 
diadems ,  namely  the  Upper  and  Lower  Egyptian 
crowns,  which  are  united  for  her. 

The  actual  ceremony  of  crowning  over,  the 

*  I.  e .,  the  two  crowns  personified  as  the  two  tutelary 
goddesses  of  Lower  and  Upper  Egypt,  namely,  Uto  and 
Nekhbet. 


116 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


queen’s  official  names  are  proclaimed,  and  Thoth 
and  Seshat,  the  god  and  goddess  of  writing  and 
enumeration,  are  depicted  recording  these  names  in 
their  books. 


Fig.  28. — Horns  and  Seth  Crowning  an  Egyptian  King. 

[After  Wilkinson.) 


We  next  see  the  queen,  arrayed  in  the  royal 
robes  and  regalia,  and  invested  with  the  insignia  of 
her  high  office,  being  conducted  into  the  presence 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 


117 

of  Amun  of  Thebes,  now  identified  with  Ref-Atum. 
This  scene  is,  of  course,  a  Theban  innovation, 
designed  to  associate  the  parvenu  god  with  the 
ancient  traditional  coronation  ceremonies  which 
had  originated  in  Heliopolis.  Amun  promises  her 
all  health  and  all  happiness ,  and  the  food  which  is  in 
this  land.  He  tells  her,  moreover,  that  he  has  given 
her  all  the  flat  lands  {of  Egypt)  and  all  the  {  foreign) 
hill- countries.  All  that  the  suns  disk  in  heaven 
encompasseth  are  under  thy  control ,  while  thou  livest , 
even  as  I  love  thee. 

While  Amun  thus  addresses  her,  the  “  souls  ”  of 
the  prehistoric  kings  of  Nekhen  (the  old  capital  of 
Upper  Egypt),  Buto  (the  old  capital  of  Lower 
Egypt),  and  Heliopolis,  who  are  depicted  kneeling 
behind  the  queen,  shout  their  greetings,  and  vie 
with  the  great  gods  in  their  assurances  of  long  life, 
good  fortune,  health,  and  happiness. 

Another  relief  in  the  temple  of  Deir  elBahri 
and  the  accompanying  inscription,  are  definitely 
historical,  and  represent  and  describe  the  presenta¬ 
tion  of  Hatshepsut  to  the  great  men  of  the  country 
by  her  father,  Dhutmose  I.  The  old  king,  who  is 
seated  upon  a  canopied  throne  set  upon  a  dais,  lays 
his  hands  on  his  daughter,  who  turns  round  to  face 
the  assemblage  in  front  of  her  (see  Fig.  29).  In 


118 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


the  accompanying  inscription  we  are  told  that  the 
majesty  of  this  her  father  beheld  her,  how  very  godlike 
her  form  teas,  how  pre-eminent  her  mind.  He  noted 
how  wisely  she  gave  judgment,  and  was  convinced 
that  her  royal  worth  was  such  that  she  must  be 
given  her  due  place,  and  accordingly  be  raised  to 

the  throne.  His 
majesty  said  unto  her , 
“  Come  thou ,  thou 
glorious  one ,  whom  1 
have  placed  in  my 
arms  (i.e.,  associated 
with  me  on  the 
throne),  that  thou 
mayest  see  thy  admin¬ 
istration  in  the  palace , 
that  thou  mayest  take 
thy  glorious  position 
which  is  thy  due ,  that 
thou  mayest  assume 
thy  noble  office ,  excellent  in  thy  magic ,  mighty 
in  thy  strength ;  that  thou  mayest  have  power 
over  the  Two  Lands ,  that  thou  mayest  seize  upon 
the  rebellious ,  that  thou  mayest  appear  gloriously 
in  the  palace ,  thy  brow  being  adorned  with  the 
double  diadem,  that  thou  mayest  be  happy  as  my 


Fig.  29. — Dliutmose  I.  presenting 
Hatshepsut  to-  the  Great  Men 
of  Egypt. 

[After  Naville,  “  Deir  el-Bahari.") 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 


119 


heir  who  is  born  to  me ,  O  daughter  of  the  White 
Crown,*  beloved  of  Uto.” f 

Dhutmose  I.  accordingly  gave  instructions  that 
all  the  nobles,  high  officials,  and  notables  among 
the  people  were  to  be  summoned  into  his  presence, 
in  order  to  issue  to  them  a  command ,  while  my 
majesty  puts  the  majesty  of  this  my  daughter  in  his 
ar  ms  in  his  palace  of  the  residence. 

There  then  took  place  a  sitting  of  the  king  himself 
in  a  certain  pillared  hall,  while  these  people  (the 
notables  and  other  great  personages)  lay  prostrate 
m  the  Court.  His  majesty  said  in  their  presence : 
“  This  my  daughter  Hatshepsut ,  I  appoint  her  to  be 
my  substitute.  Yea ,  she  is  my  successor.  She  it  is  who 
shall  sit  on  my  wondrous  throne.  She  shall  give  com¬ 
mand  to  the  people  in  all  places  of  the  palace.  She  it  is 
who  shall  lead  you ,  and  ye  shall  hearken  to  her  word. 
.  .  .  He  who  praises  her  shall  live ,  but  he  who  saith 
aught  evil ,  blaspheming  her  majesty ,  he  shall  die.” 

This  utterance  of  the  king  was  received  with  an 
outburst  of  loyal  enthusiasm.  We  are  told  that 
those  who  had  been  summoned  to  hear  the  procla¬ 
mation  kissed  the  ground  at  his  (the  king’s)  feet  .  .  . 

*  The  crown  of  Upper  Egypt,  and  equated  with  Nekhbet 
see  above,  p.  115,  note, 
t  See  ibid. 


120 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


and  went  out  rejoicing.  They  danced,  they  shouted 
for  joy.  The  sounds  of  rejoicing  were  heard  every¬ 
where,  and  resounded  through  all  the  rooms  of  the 
royal  residence.  The  soldiers  and  the  crowds 
assembled  outside  the  palace  took  up  the  cry,  and 
they  published,  they  published,  the  name  of  her 
majesty  as  king, — albeit  her  majesty  was  still  but  a 
youth — for  the  great  gods  inclined  their  hearts  to  his 
daughter  Maker e',  and  they  knew  her  to  be  the 
daughter  of  a  god.  The  crowds  kept  on  shouting : 
Anyone  who  loves  her  in  his  heart ,  who  praises  her 
every  day  ...  he  will  flourish  more  than  anything. 
Anyone  who  speaks  evil  against  the  name  of  her 
majesty,  God  will  straightway  ordain  his  death.  Lo, 
it  is  the  gods  who  encompass  her  with  protection 
every  day. 

The  majesty  of  this  her  father,  we  are  informed, 
heard,  that  all  the  people  proclaimed  the  name  of  this 
his  daughter  as  king — albeit  her  majesty  was  still  a 
youth — and  the  heart  of  his  majesty  was  glad  more 
than  anything.  He  thereupon  proceeded  to  make 
all  the  arrangements  for  the  coronation,  which  he 
fixed  for  New  Year’s  Day,  for  he  knew  that  a  coro¬ 
nation  on  New  Years  Day  is  auspicious  as  the 
beginning  of  peaceful  years,  and  of  her  celebrating 
millions  of  many  jubilees. 


XVII 


RAMESSEUM. 

View  through  hypostyle  hall  showing  portion  of  fallen  colossus.  (See  pp.  170,  172  foil.) 


. 


. 


* 


* 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 


121 


The  great  day  in  Hatshepsut’s  life  came  at  last — 
the  first  day  of  the  season  of  Inundation ,  New  Years 
Day ,  the  beginning  of  peaceful  years ,  the  day  of  the 
Coronation  of  the  King  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt , 
( the  day )  o/*  the  Union  of  the  Two  Lands ,  the  Pro¬ 
cession  round  the  Walls ,  the  Festival  of  the  Diadem . 

It  would  appear  that  the  coronation  ceremonies, 
the  most  important  of  which  are  schematically 
depicted,  no  doubt  in  the  order  of  their  enactment, 
on  the  north  wall  of  the  middle  colonnade  of  the 
temple  of  Deir  el-Bahri,  were  performed  in  the 
palace  precincts,  a  number  of  special  chapels  being 
erected  for  the  occasion.  The  first  ceremony  was 
the  lustral  washing  of  the  Pharaoh-designate,  who 
had  to  be  made  absolutely  free  of  all  possible  earthly 
contamination  before  the  two  diadems  could  be 
placed  on  his  head ;  these,  as  has  already  been 
pointed  out  on  p.  115,  being  regarded  by  the 
Egyptians  as  the  actual  embodiments  of  the  god¬ 
desses  Nekhbet  and  Uto,  and  their  curatorship 
reckoned  a  priestly  office.  Accordingly  a  priest, 
called  the  Pillar  of  his  Mother,  is  seen  leading 
Hatshepsut  into  one  of  the  above-mentioned 
chapels,  which  was  designated  the  Great  House, 
this  being  the  name  of  the  sanctuary  of  Hierakon- 
polis,  the  pre-dynastic  capital  of  Upper  Egypt. 

16 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


122 

In  this  chapel  a  priest,  impersonating  Yahes,  the 
god  of  the  West,  sprinkled  the  queen  with  holy 
water,  which  not  only  was  thought  to  purify  her, 
but  to  endow  her  with  life ,  good  fortune ,  stability , 
health ,  and  happiness ,  whereby  she  would  be  able  to 
celebrate  very  many  jubilees  like  He  for  ever. 

After  this  preliminary  purification,  a  priest 
impersonating  the  god  Horus  conducted  Hat- 
shepsut  into  another  room,  which  was  identified 
with  the  sanctuary  of  Buto,  the  pre-dynastic  capital 
of  Lower  Egypt,  where  he  and  another  priest  who 
impersonated  Seth — the  two,  as  we  have  seen, 
respectively  representing  the  northern  and  southern 
halves  of  the  realm — crowned  her  with  the  white 
crown  of  Upper  Egypt. 

Hatshepsut  then  came  forth  from  the  chapel, 
preceded  by  four  officiants  carrying  each  a  sacred 
standard,  and  showed  herself  to  the  people  in  front 
of  the  palace.  This  proceeding,  which  was  desig¬ 
nated  the  Union  of  the  Two  Lands ,  the  Procession 
round  the  W ills ,  going  round  on  the  Eastern  Side , 
commemorated  the  triumphal  procession  of  Menes, 
the  first  king  of  the  First  Dynasty,  round  the  w^alls 
of  Memphis,  in  celebration  of  his  conquest  of 
Lower  Egypt,  the  event  which  had  brought  about 
the  Union  of  the  Two  Lands .  It  is  here  to  be 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN  123 

noted  that  the  words  44  Procession  round  the  walls  ” 
are  the  equivalent  of 44  Procession  round  Memphis,” 
for  the  White  Walls,  or  simply  the  Walls,  was  the 
old  name  of  that  city, — the  great  white  fortification 


Fig.  30. — Hatshepsut  assuming  the  Red  Crown  of  Lower  Egypt  and 

then  leaving  the  Chapel. 

(After  Naville.) 

walls,  which  had  been  erected  by  Menes  himself, 
being  its  characteristic  feature. 

After  this  commemorative  procession,  Hatshepsut 
again  entered  the  chapel  in  which  she  had  been 
crowned  with  the  white  crown,  in  order  that  she 
might  also  be  crowned  with  the  red  crown  of  Lower 


124  LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES. 

Egypt.  Again  she  issued  from  the  chapel,  preceded 
this  time  by  two  standard-bearers  (see  Fig.  30),  and 
paraded  in  front  of  the  palace,  and  with  this  pro¬ 
cession  the  coronation  ceremonial  seems  to  have 
terminated. 

The  Deir  el-Bahri  reliefs  give  only  a  bare  outline 
of  what  we  have  reason  to  believe  was  a  very 
lengthy  and  elaborate  rite.  They  do  not,  for 
example,  depict  what  was  undoubtedly  one  of 
many  other  coronation  ceremonies — namely,  the 
letting  fly  of  four  birds,  usually  geese,  to  carry  the 
news  to  the  four  quarters  of  heaven  that  Horus  son 
of  Isis  and  Osiris  has  assumed  the  great  crown  of 
Upper  and  Lower  Egypt ,  that  king  N.  has 
received  the  great  crown  oj  Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt  (see  below,  p.  181,  and  Fig.  48).  A  docu¬ 
ment  containing  this  information  was  sometimes 
tied  round  the  neck  of  each  bird  (see  Fig.  31). 

During  the  performance  of  every  ritual  act 
certain  prescribed  formulas  were  recited,  and  these 
sometimes,  it  would  seem,  took  the  form  of  a 
dialogue  between  the  king  and  the  leading  priestly 
officiants,  in  which  the  former  was  instructed  by 
the  latter  as  to  what  his  duties  would  be  in  his 
capacity  of  son  of  the  sun-god  and  the  earthly 
embodiment  of  that  divinity.  The  gist  of  one  of 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 


125 


these  didactic  discourses  is  perhaps  preserved  to  us 
by  a  Latin  writer  called  Nigidius  Figulus,  who  tells 
us  that  before  the  Pharaoh  was  crowned  he  was 
straitly  charged  not  to  tamper  with  the  365- days 
Calendar  (apparently  first  instituted  in  Heliopolis 
in  the  year  4241  b.c.),  being  bound  by  an  oath  never 


Fig.  31. — Carrier-Birds  with  Messages  attached  to  their  Necks. 

{After  Lepsius.) 


to  intercalate  a  month  or  even  a  day,  nor  alter  the 
date  of  a  festival,  but  perpetuate  the  365  days  as 
instituted  by  the  ancients. 

Dhutmose  I.  must  have  realized  the  abnormality 
of  the  situation  he  had  created  by  making 
Hatshepsut  Pharaoh,  for  not  long  before  he  died 
— no  doubt  to  make  her  position  more  secure — he 


126 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


married  her  to  his  son,  her  half-brother,  Dhut- 
mose  II.,  who  came  to  the  throne  as  nominal 
Pharaoh  when  death  finally  overtook  the  sick  king. 

On  the  earlier  monuments  of  this  joint  reign 
Hatshepsut  is  depicted  as  occupying  the  ordinary 
position  of  an  Egyptian  queen,  assisting  the  king  at 
the  celebration  of  the  temple  liturgy  in  the  capacity 
of  high-priestess,  and  otherwise  playing  a  quite 
subordinate  role.  But  this  was  all  outward  seem¬ 
ing,  and  did  not  long  prevail  even  in  representations 
so  stereotyped  as  Egyptian  temple  reliefs.  Ere 
long  such  reliefs  began  to  depict  her  as  on  an  equal 
footing  with  her  brother- husband,  and  when  he 
died,  aged  about  thirty — he  was  a  weakling,  physi¬ 
cally,  and  perhaps  also  intellectually — Hatshepsut 
was  left  sole  legitimate  ruler  at  the  age  of  about 
thirty-seven,  with  no  one  to  challenge  her  right 
except  a  small  nephew  of  about  ten  years  of  age, 
also  named  Dhutmose  (the  son  of  her  husband  by 
a  secondary  wife  of  non-solar  rank),  who  was  after¬ 
wards  known  to  fame  as  Dhutmose  III.,  and  whom 
immediately,  or  not  long,  after  his  father’s  death  she 
associated  with  herself  on  the  throne. 

Hatshepsut  must  have  possessed  unusual  ability 
and  been  gifted  with  great  determination  and 
strength  of  character.  For  a  woman  to  have  been 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 


127 


for  thirty  years  or  more  the  acting  head  of  an 
oriental  military  monarchy  was  surely  an  amazing 
achievement.  She  reminds  one  in  some  ways  of 
our  own  Elizabeth,  and  like  her,  in  addition  to 
being  strong-minded,  had  the  good  fortune  to 
possess,  or  discrimination  to  choose,  capable  and 
shrewd  advisers. 

During  the  last  ten  years  of  Hatshepsut  s  reign, 
when  he  had  fully  attained  manhood,  Dhutmose 
III.  must  have  longed  for  some  opportunity  to 
display  his  military  and  administrative  talents  ;  but 
strong  man  though  he  later  proved  himself  to  be, 
he  was  no  match  for  his  aunt,  who  seems  to  have 
allowed  him  no  authority  whatever.  It  was  not 
till  her  death  that  his  genius  as  a  general  blazed 
forth,  when,  accompanied  by  his  legions,  he 
thundered  through  Syria  in  seventeen  victorious 
campaigns.  How  he  must  have  chafed  at  petticoat 
government !  For  while  he  lusted  for  the  battle, 
he  was  condemned  by  his  elderly  and  tyrannical 
relative  to  content  himself  with  such  paltry 
functions  as  those  of  a  thurifer  in  a  religious  pro¬ 
cession.  Imagine  Napoleon  as  an  acolyte ! 

Owing  to  the  military  prowess  of  her  immediate 
predecessors,  Hatshepsut’s  reign  was  a  period  of 
peace,  and  she  was  thus  able  to  occupy  herself  in 


128 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


developing  the  vast  and  newly  acquired  resources 
of  her  Empire.  She  devoted  herself  to  architectural 
works — restoring  those  temples  that  had  lain  in 
ruin  since  the  Hyksos  occupation — and  to  com¬ 
mercial  enterprise  and  exploration. 

Hatshepsut’s  perhaps  most  famous  achievement 
was  the  expedition  she  fitted  out  and  despatched  to 
the  land  of  Punt,  a  country  supposed  to  have  been 
situated  some  way  down  the  Red  Sea  in  the  region 
now  called  Somaliland,  or  perhaps  even  further 
south  than  that.  In  her  temple  at  Deir  el-Bahri, 
on  the  southern  wall  of  the  middle  colonnade,  she 
tells  us  all  about  this  venture  in  a  series  of  very 
beautiful  and  detailed  reliefs  accompanied  by 
explanatory  and  often  most  interesting  inscriptions. 

We  are  told  that  the  queen  was  one  day  making 
supplication  at  the  steps  (i.e.,  the  steps  leading  up  to 
the  enthroned  image)  of  the  lord  of  gods ,  when 
a  command  was  heard  ( issuing )  from  the  Great 
Place  (the  part  of  the  sanctuary  where  the  shrine 
stood),  an  oracle  of  the  god  himself  that  the  ways  to 
Punt  should  he  searched  out ,  that  the  roads  to  the 
myrrh-terraces  (i.e.,  the  hill-sides  on  which  the 
myrrh -trees  grew)  should  he  opened  up,  that  an 
expedition  should  he  led  over  water  and  over  land ,  in 
order  to  fetch  the  marvels  from  God's- Land  for  this 


o 


_ 


XVIII. 


rasgifffet 


,^v 

**  -- -:M,  •rrr.:,?  .*. . 

' ;..  •  „■'■'■■' l*s?^M:*ii ;-.  ••'  .  *'•¥{#&*  n-STf; 

'■  ..-,  •  >.,..  •  .•!..'  .  T> ’’V^,  >V- 


*  '.'  •  ’ 

-'‘‘y-'rnift 


,/SL  &*'&/*&? 


'  '"•  •-••  .-f" , 

•..■»  4H«v«jiKN5i  ~  >»’  N  v . 


V'-\. •’*,  '5,' '  -.  lAiiV^1 


RAMESSEUM. 

Osn  id  pillars  in  the  second  colonnaded  forecourt. 


(See  pp.  170  foil.) 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 


129 


god  who  fashioned  her  (Hatshepsut’s)  beauties.  It 
was  done ,  the  inscription  goes  on  to  say,  according 
to  all  that  the  majesty  of  this  august  god  commanded , 
the  queen  straightway  equipping  and  despatching 
a  fleet  of  five  ships.  This  fleet,  so  Professor 
Breasted  suggests,  sailed  down  the  Nile  from 

Thebes,  and 
then  passed 
along  a  canal, 
which,  it  is 
supposed,  ran 
at  that  time 
through  the 
Wady  Tumilat 
and  connected 
the  river  with 
the  Red  Sea. 
Indue  course 


Fig.  32. — Perehu  and  his  Fat  Wife. 

[After  Naville.) 


arrived  safely  at  Punt,  where  the 
were  received  in  the  most  friendly 


the  fleet 
Egyptians 

fashion  by  Perehu,  the  Puntite  chief,  and  his 
wife  (see  Fig.  32).  The  inhabitants  of  Punt 
were  not  negroes  but  Hamites,  and  they  accord¬ 
ingly  possessed,  as  the  Deir  el-Bahri  reliefs  show, 
much  the  same  facial  features  and  other  physical 

characteristics  as  the  Egyptians.  Perehu’s  right 

17 


130 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


leg,  it  will  be  observed,  is  covered  from  ankle  to 
knee  with  metal  or  ivory  rings.  His  wife  is  an 
extraordinary-looking  creature,  and  it  has  been 
suggested  that  she  suffered  from  elephantiasis. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  sculptor  has 
merely  represented  for  us  one  of  those  enormously 
fat  women,  a  taste  for  whom  is  widespread  among 
the  peoples  of  Africa,  and  is  not  unknown  even  in 
modern  Egypt  ! 

It  was  so  long  a  time  since  any  Egyptians  had 
been  seen  in  Punt  that  the  natives  are  represented 
in  the  Egyptian  narrative  of  events  as  crying  out : 
Why  have  ye  come  hither  unto  this  land  which  people 
knew  not  ?  Did  ye  come  down  upon  the  ways  of 
heaven  ?  Did  ye  voyage  over  water ,  over  land  ? 
They  then  speak  flatteringly  of  the  Pharaoh,  and 
express  a  desire  to  pay  their  homage  to  him  in 
Egypt.  The  king  of  Egypt ,  is  there  not  a  way 
unto  his  majesty ,  that  we  may  live  on  the  breath 
which  he  gives  ? 

The  preliminary  interchange  of  compliments 
over,  the  Egyptian  explorers  settled  down  to  the 
business  on  which  they  had  come — namely,  the 
acquiring  of  the  valuable  raw  materials  and  other 
commodities  produced  by  this  outlandish  country, 
in  return  for  the  manufactured  goods  they  had 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 


131 


brought  with  them.  A  tent  was  erected ,  we  read, 
for  the  kings  envoy  and  his  troops  in  the  myrrh- 
terraces  of  Punt  beside  the  great  green  ocean ,  in 
order  to  receive  the  chieftains  of  this  land .  There 
was  offered  to  them  (the  native  chiefs)  bread ,  beer , 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ ,,rrr/rrn7T.TI  r  f  ^TTXrrJZ7T;T77777777ZZr771 


Fig.  33. — The  cs  King’s  Envoy  ”  receiving  the  Puntites. 
{After  Mariette,  “  Deir  el-Bahari.”) 


wine ,  meat ,  and  fruits,  every  thing  which  is  ( pro¬ 
duced )  in  Egypt ,  according  to  what  had  been 
ordered  at  the  Court . 

The  reliefs  show  us  the  kings  envoy  standing 
before  the  tent  and  receiving  the  Puntites,  who 
are  bringing  the  products  of  their  country  to 


132 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


exchange  them  for  some  of  those  bead-necklaces, 
hatchets,  daggers,  and  the  like,  which  have  been 
temptingly  laid  out  before  them  (see  Fig.  33). 
Behind  the  Puntites  is  depicted  the  village  or 
settlement  from  which  they  have  issued  with  their 
wares.  It  was  evidently  a  thickly-wooded  country, 
and  the  huts  of  the  natives  peep  out  from  amid 
various  kinds  of  trees.  These  huts  are  of  the 
typically  African  beehive  variety,  but  they  are 
erected  on  piles,  and  access  to  each  was  gained  by 
a  ladder.  At  the  bottom  of  the  relief  is  a  strip  of 
water  full  of  fish,  showing  that  the  settlement  was 
situated  close  to  the  seashore  or  on  the  edge  of 
some  creek  (see  Fig.  34).  It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  erection  of  huts  on  piles  denotes  a  swampy 
country,  but  we  are  distinctly  told  that  the  myrrh- 
trees  grew  on  terraces — that  is,  on  the  sides  of  hills 
— and  the  tent  mentioned  above,  and  shown  in 
Fig.  34,  was  erected  in  the  myrrh-terraces.  Mr.  H. 
Weld-Blundell  has  suggested  to  me  that  the  huts 
are  built  on  piles  as  a  protection  against  white  ants, 

i 

with  which  Somaliland  is  infested.  There  are  just 
one  or  two  kinds  of  wood,  of  which  the  piles  would 
have  been  made,  that  these  pests  will  not  devour. 

Evidently  the  hatchets,  beads,  and  other  gawds 
caught  the  fancy  of  the  simple  Puntites,  for  the 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 


183 


Egyptian  soon  began  to  load  their  vessels  with 
the  marvels  of  the  country  of  Punt.  Gangways 
were  run  out,  and  up  them  filed  the  porters  in 
a  seemingly  endless  procession,  bearing  all  the 
goodly  fragrant  woods  of  To-Nuter f  heaps  of 
myrrh-resin ,  together  with  living  incense-trees  (which 
were  to  be  transplanted  in  Egypt),  ebony ,  ivory , 


Fig.  34.—  Part  of  a  Puntite  Village. 

[After  Mariette.) 


gold ,  cinnamon-wood ,  .  .  .  incense ,  eye-cosmetic , 
baboons ,  monkeys ,  dogs ,  s&ms  of  Upper  Egyptian 
panthers  (see  Fig.  35).  Included  in  the  cargo  were 
a  number  of  the  natives  themselves  and  their  chil¬ 
dren.  Never ,  we  are  told,  was  the  like  of  this 
brought  for  any  king  that  there  had  been  since 
prwnceval  time. 

*  =  “  God’s-Land  ” ;  also  used  as  a  designation  of  the 
Lebanon  country  (see  above,  p.  74). 


134 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


The  fleet  had  a  fair  return  voyage  without 
mishap,  and  finally  moored  again  at  the  Theban 
docks,  where  the  ships  were  unloaded.  A  great 
procession  was  formed,  led  by  the  commander  of 
the  expedition,  and  all  the  strange  products  of  that 
far-off  land  were  paraded  through  the  streets  of 
the  capital  to  the  palace,  where  they  were  formally 


Fig.  35. — Loading  the  Egyptian  Vessels  with  the  Produce  of  Punt. 
( After  Breasted,  “  History  of  Egypt.") 


presented  to  the  queen.  In  this  procession  walked 
a  number  of  the  natives  of  Punt  themselves,  and  it 
must  have  been  a  wonderful  spectacle  for  the 
Thebans,  who  had  never  before  witnessed  such  a 
show. 

Hatshepsut  made  over  to  Amun,  who  had  com¬ 
manded  the  expedition  to  be  despatched,  his  share 
of  the  spoils.  It  is  most  interesting  to  learn  that 
the  live  incense-trees  were  exported  especially  for 


A  FAMOUS  QUEEN 


135 


him.  Deir  el-Bahri  temple  is  built  in  three 
terraces,  one  above  the  other  (see  below,  p.  162), 
and  on  these  terraces  the  trees  were  planted. 
Thus  an  attempt  was  made  to  reproduce  the  effect 
of  the  natural  terraces  or  hill-slopes  of  the  country 
from  whence  the  trees  had  been  brought.  I  made 
for  him ,  says  Hatshepsut,  a  Punt  in  his  garden , 
according  to  what  he  commanded  me ,  at  Thebes. 
It  is  large  enough  for  him  to  walk  about  in. 

Hatshepsut’s  reign,  brilliant  though  it  was,  seems 
to  have  led  to  the  weakening  of  the  Egyptian 
military  position  in  Syria  and  northern  Palestine. 
The  queen  and  her  ministers  so  devoted  themselves 
to  architectural  undertakings,  exploration,  and 
other  peaceful  pursuits, — forgetting  that  it  is  the 
strong  man  armed  who  keeps  his  house — that  by  the 
end  of  her  reign  the  Egyptians’  hold  on  their 
Asiatic  dominion  was  in  jeopardy.  Her  death 
came  none  too  soon,  and  it  gave  Dhutmose  the 
opportunity  for  which  he  had  been  longing  during 
the  tedious  years  of  his  subordination. 


CHAPTER  VI 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES 

The  Imperial  Age  is  no  less  noteworthy  for  its 
literary  than  for  its  military  and  artistic  achieve¬ 
ments  ;  indeed,  many  of  the  poems  and  other  com¬ 
positions  then  produced  are  quite  equal,  if  not 
superior,  to  the  best  work  of  the  preceding  period, 
the  so-called  Middle  Kingdom,  which  is  generally 
regarded  as  the  Classical  Period  of  Egyptian  litera¬ 
ture.  Certain  of  the  triumphant  songs  composed 
in  honour  of  the  great  Emperors’  acts  of  prowess 
in  war  are  distinguished  by  really  fine  writing,  a 
good  example  of  such  being  the  Victory  Hymn  of 
Dhutmose  III.,  in  which  the  poet  represents  the 
god  Amun  as  thus  addressing  the  Pharaoh : 

I  have  come  that  I  may  cause  thee  to  tread  down  the  princes 
of  Palestine , 

That  I  may  spread  them  out  under  thy  feet  throughout 
their  countries  ; 

That  1  may  cause  them  to  behold  thy  majesty  as  a  lord  of 
radiance , 

While  thou  shinest  in  their  faces  in  my  similitude . 

136 


XIX 


ferr 


HYPOSTYLE  HALL,  RAMFSSEUM. 

Looking  diagonally  across  to  S.E.  corner.  (See  pp.  172  foil.) 


A _ 


■  *  ■ 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES 


137 


I  have  come  that  I  may  cause  thee  to  tread  down  those  who 
are  in  Asia, 

To  smite  the  heads  of  the  Syrians  of  Retenu  ; 

That  I  may  cause  them  to  behold  thy  majesty  equipped 
with  thine  accoutrements , 

When  thou  layest  hold  on  the  weapons  of  war  in  the  chariot . 

I  have  come  that  I  may  cause  thee  to  tread  down  the  eastern 
land, 

To  trample  on  those  who  are  in  the  regions  of  To-Nuter  ;* 

That  I  may  cause  them  to  behold  thy  majesty  as  the  star 
Seshedf 

When  it  scatters  its  flame  in  fire,  when  it  gives  forth  its  dew . 

I  have  come  that  I  may  cause  thee  to  tread  down  the 
western  land, 

Crete  and  Cyprus  (?)  are  in  terror  of  thee  ; 

That  I  may  cause  them  to  behold  thy  majesty  as  a  young 
bull, 

Firm  of  heart,  with  horns  ready,  irresistible. 

I  have  come  that  I  may  cause  thee  to  tread  down  them  that 
are  in  their  marshes, 

The  lands  of  Meten%  tremble  for  fear  of  thee  ; 

That  I  may  cause  them  to  behold  thy  majesty  as  a  crocodile . 

Lord  of  terror  in  the  water,  unapproachable. 

I  have  come  that  I  may  cause  thee  to  tread  down  them  that 
are  in  the  islands, 

They  that  are  in  the  midst  of  the  great  green  sea  hear  thy 
battle-cry : 

*  See  above,  p.  133,  note. 

t  Name  of  a  star  or  constellation.  J  Unidentified. 

18 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


188 

That  I  may  cause  them  to  behold  thy  majesty  as  the 
Avenger ,* 

Who  appeared  gloriously  upon  the  back  of  his  slain  foe. 

I  have  come  that  I  may  cause  thee  to  tread  down  the  Libyans , 

The  Uthentywf  are  subject  to  the  might  of  thy  prowess  ; 

That  I  may  cause  them  to  behold  thy  majesty  as  a  fierce¬ 
eyed  lion , 

While  thou  makest  them  as  corpses  throughout  their  valley. 

I  have  come  that  I  may  cause  thee  to  tread  down  the  utter¬ 
most  ends  of  the  lands , 

What  the  great  Encircler  (the  Ocean)  encircleth  are  held 
in  thy  grasp  ; 

That  I  may  cause  them  to  behold  thy  majesty  as  a  lord  of 
the  wing  ( i.e a  hawk), 

Who  seizeth  upon  what  he  seeth ,  according  as  he  desireth. 

I  have  come  that  1  may  cause  thee  to  tread  down  those  who 
are  in  the  country  nigh  at  hand , 

To  bind  the  sand-dwellers  as  living  captives  ; 

That  I  may  cause  them  to  behold  thee  as  a  jackal  of  Upper 
Egypt, 

A  master  of  speed ,  a  runner ,  traversing  the  Two  Lands. 

I  have  come  that  I  may  cause  thee  to  tread  down  the  nomads 
of  Nubia , 

As  far  as  Shatl  all  is  in  thy  grasp  ; 


*  I.e.,  Horus,  the  avenger  of  Osiris, 
t  Unknown  people. 

+  Unknown  region  in  Nubia. 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES 


139 


That  I  may  cause  them  to  behold  thy  majesty  as  thy  two 
brethren ,* 

Whose  hands  I  have  joined  for  thee  in  victory. 

The  following  is  part  of  King  Merneptah’s  song 
of  triumph,  and  it  is  a  particularly  interesting 
passage,  as  it  contains  the  earliest  mention  of  Israel 
that  we  know  of,  and  the  only  mention  of  that 
people  in  an  Egyptian  text : 

The  princes  lie  prone  and  say  Saldm. 

There  is  not  one  who  lifts  up  his  head  among  the  Nine 
Bowsf 

Libya  is  wasted , 

The  Ilittite  land  is  pacified , 

Canaan  is  captured  with  every  evil , 

Askalon  is  carried  away , 

Gezer  is  seized  upon. 

Yenoam  is  made  as  nothing , 

Israel  is  desolated ,  her  seed  is  not , 

Palestine  has  become  a  widow  for  Timuris.% 

All  lands  are  united  in  peace , 

Everyone  that  is  turbulent, — 

He  is  bound  by  the  King  of 

Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  Binere  -Miamun, 

Son  of  Re  ,  Merneptah-Hetpherme  et. 


*  Horus  and  Seth,  the  representative  gods  of  Lower  and 
Upper  Egypt. 

t  Ancient  designation  for  the  hostile  neighbours  of  Egypt. 
I  Greek  rendering  of  Egyptian  T\—mry  =  Egypt. 


140 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


In  the  hymn  celebrating  the  heroism  of 
Ramesses  II.  when  he  fought  against  the  Hittites, 
we  get  the  nearest  approach  in  all  Egyptian  litera¬ 
ture  to  epic  poetry. #  We  are  told  how  the  foe 
covered  the  hills  like  grasshoppers,  and  all  the 
subsequent  events,  the  rout  of  a  division  of  the 
Egyptian  army  (the  division  of  Ref),  their  rush 
for  safety  to  Ramesses’  camp,  the  panic  that  seized 
on  all  the  troops  round  about  the  Pharaoh, — all  are 
made  to  lead  up  to  the  supreme  moment  wThen 
Ramesses  found  himself  alone  in  the  midst  of 
the  foe  : 

When  his  majesty  looked  behind  him , 

He  marked  that  two  thousand  five  hundred  chariots  en¬ 
circled  him  in  his  outward  way.  .  .  . 

No  chief  is  with  me , 

No  charioteer , 

No  officer  of  foot-soldiery, 

Nor  of  chariotry. 

My  foot-soldiery  and  my  chariotry  have  left  me  for  a  'prey 
unto  them  (the  enemy) ; 

None  of  them  stands  fast  in  order  to  fight  with  them. 

The  poet  represents  him  as  calling  on  his  father 
Amun  for  aid  : 

*  For  a  full  account  of  the  battle  see  Breasted,  “  Ancient 
Records  of  Egypt,”  Chicago,  1906,  iii.,  pp.  123-162;  “A 
History  of  Egypt,”  London,  1906,  pp.  425-435. 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES 


141 


What  is  it,  then,  my  father  Amun  ? 

Has  a  father  indeed  forgotten  his  son  ? 

Have  I  done  aught  without  thee  ? 

If  I  went  or  stood  still,  teas  it  not  at  thy  command  ? 

Never  have  1  disregarded  the  decrees  which  thou  hast 
ordained. 

How  great  is  the  great  lord  of  Thebes  ! 

Too  great  for  the  stranger-peoples  to  be  able  to  approach 
him. 

What  are  these  Asiatics  to  thee,  0  Amun, 

W retches  who  know  nought  of  God  ? 

Ramesses,  having  first  enumerated  all  the  gifts 
he  has  bestowed  on  Amun,  draws  the  gods  atten¬ 
tion  to  his  own  desperate  need,  and  asserts  that  he 
trusts  in  him  alone  : 

Have  I  not  made  for  thee  very  many  monuments, 

And  filled  thy  temple  with  my  captives  ? 

I  have  built  for  thee  my  temple  of  millions  of  years, 

And  given  thee  my  goods  for  (thy)  possession. 

All  lands  together  do  I  present  unto  thee, 

In  order  to  furnish  thine  offering  with  victuals. 

I  cause  to  be  offered  to  thee  tens  of  thousands  of  oxen , 

With  all  sweet- smelling  plants. 

No  good  thing  leave  I  undone  in  thy  temple. 

I  build  for  thee  pylons  and  myself  erect  their  flag- staffs. 

I  bring  for  thee  obelisks  from  Elephantine, 

And  I  it  is  that  bring  the  stones. 

I  cause  galleys  to  voyage  for  thee  upon  the  sea, 

In  order  to  fetch  for  thee  the  tribute  of  the  lands. 

Mischief  shall  befall  him  who  thwarts  thy  purposes, 

But  well  he  fares  who  understands  (?)  thee. 


142 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


One  should  work  for  thee  with  a  loving  heart . 

I  call  on  thee ,  my  father  Amun. 

I  am  in  the  midst  of  strangers ,  whom  I  know  not. 

All  lands  have  joined  themselves  together  against  me, 

And  1  am  all  alone  and  none  other  is  with  me. 

My  soldiers  have  forsaken  me. 

Not  one  among  my  chariotry  has  looked  round  for  me. 
u  i  cry  to  them,  not  one  of  them  hearkens. 

But  I  call,  and  I  see  that  Amun  is  worth  more  to  me  than 
millions  of  foot- soldiers, 

More  than  hundreds  of  thousands  of  chariots.  .  .  . 

The  deeds  of  many  men  are  nothing  ; 

Amun  is  worth  more  than  they. 

1  have  come  hither  by  the  decree  of  thy  mouth,  0  Amun, 
And  from  thy  decree  have  I  not  swerved. 

Harnesses  realizes  that  though  he  is  far  from  the 
Thebaid,  yet  Amun  has  heard,  and  is  ready  at  hand 
to  help  him,  enabling  him  to  perform  prodigies  of 
valour : 

I  pray  at  the  limits  of  the  lands,  yet  my  voice  reaches  unto 
Hermonthis. 

Am  n  hears  me  and  comes,  when  l  cry  to  him. 

He  stretches  out  his  hand  to  me,  and  I  rejoice, 

He  calls  out  behind  me:  “  Forward,  forward!  I  am  with 
thee,  I  thy  father. 

My  hand  is  with  thee  and  I  am  of  more  avail  than  a 
hundred-thousand  men, 

I,  the  lord  of  victory,  who  love  strength 
I  have  found  my  courage  again,  my  heart  swells  for  joy, 
What  I  am  fain  to  do  comes  to  pass. 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES  143 

I  am  as  Mont ,  I  shoot  on  the  right  hand  and  fight  on  the 
left , 

I  am  in  their  presence  as  Ba'al  in  his  time, 

I  see  that  the  two  thousand  five  hundred  chariots,  in  whose 
midst  I  was, 

Lie  hewn  in  pieces  before  my  steeds. 

Not  one  of  them  has  found  his  hand  to  fight. 

Their  hearts  have  become  faint  in  their  bodies  for  fear, 
Their  arms  are  all  become  powerless, 

They  are  unable  to  shoot, 

And  have  not  the  heart  to  take  their  lances. 

I  cause  them  to  plunge  into  the  water,  as  plunge  the 
crocodiles. 

They  stumble  one  over  the  other,  and  I  slay  of  them  whom  I 
will. 

Not  one  of  them  looks  back  and  there  is  none  who  turns 
round. 

Whosoever  of  them  falleth  lifts  not  up  himself  again. 

The  Egyptian  poet,  as  Professor  Breasted  has 
pointed  out,  has  a  real  appreciation  of  the  value  of 
dramatic  contrast.  He  throws  the  personal  valour 
of  the  Pharaoh  into  high  relief  by  setting  against 
it  the  dismay  of  his  charioteer,  whose  heart  fails 
him  when  he  realizes  the  utter  loneliness  of  his  own 
and  his  royal  master’s  position  : 

But  when,  Menna,  my  charioteer,  saw  that  a  great  multi¬ 
tude  of  chariots  compassed  me  round  about, 

He  became  faint  and  his  heart  failed  him,  and  very  great 
fear  entered  into  his  body. 


144 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


Then  said  he  to  his  majesty :  “  My  good  lord ,  valiant  prince, 
great  protector  of  Egypt  in  the  day  of  battle, 

W e  stand  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  foe. 

Behold,  our  soldiers  and  our  chariotry  abandon  us. 
Wherefore  wilt  thou  stay  until  they  bereave  [us  of  breath)  ? 

Let  us  remain  unscathed  !  Save  us,  0  Ramesses  /” 

* 

Then  said  his  majesty  to  his  charioteer : 

“  Steady,  steady  thy  heart,  my  charioteer  ! 

I  am  going  in  among  them  even  as  a  hawk  strikes. 

I  slay,  hew  in  pieces,  and  throw  to  the  ground. 

What  thinkest  thou  of  these  cowards  ? 

My  face  grows  not  pale  for  millions  of  them  /” 

Ramesses,  the  poet  goes  on  to  tell  us,  dashed  in 
among  the  foe  with  such  fury  that  his  discomforted 
troops  took  courage.  They  rushed  in  after  him 
and  turned  a  defeat  into  a  victory,  driving  the 
Hittites  into  the  river  Orontes. 

On  a  wall  of  the  Ramesseum  (see  below,  pp.  171 
foil.)  is  a  relief  depicting  the  events  described  in 
the  poem.  We  see  the  routed  enemy  plunging 
into  the  river  and  swimming  across  or  struggling  in 
the  water,  while  some  of  them  are  being  pulled  to 
land  by  their  friends  on  the  opposite  bank.  A 
humorous  touch  is  afforded  by  a  group  of  figures 
comprising  the  king  of  Aleppo  (see  Fig.  36). 
This  potentate,  who  was  in  league  with  the 
Hittites,  has  just  been  dragged  out  of  the  river, 


XXI 


MEDINET  HABLi. 

Second  colonnaded  court  in  the  funerary  temple  of  Ramesses  III 

(See  p.  179.) 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES  145 

and  his  rescuers  are  holding  him  upside  down  so 
that  he  may  disgorge  all  the  water  that  he  has 
swallowed !  Above  the  group  is  written :  The 
wretched  chief  of  Aleppo  turned  upside  down  by  his 
soldiers ,  after  his  majesty  hurled  him  into  the  water . 


Fig.  36. — The  King  of  Aleppo  held  upside-down  by  his  Rescuers. 

{After  Breasted.) 


After  making  all  due  allowance  for  the  poet’s 
imagination,  and  for  his]  desire  to  please  his  royal 
patron,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  Ramesses  dis¬ 
played  great  courage  and  presence  of  mind  in  this 
crisis.  There  is  something,  too,  of  the  spirit  of  the 
heroes  of  Greek  epic  in  the  Pharaoh’s  vow  that 

19 


146 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


his  gallant  steeds,  Victory -in- Thebes  and  Mut-is - 
content ,  which  had  borne  him  safely  through  the 
thick  of  the  fray,  should  ever  after  be  fed  daily  in 
his  presence. 

The  following  poem  was  written  in  celebration 
of  the  coronation  of  Ramesses  IV.  No  doubt 
similar  verses  were  sung  or  recited  on  the  occasion 
of  the  coronation  of  Hatshepsut  (see  above, 
pp.  121  foil). 

What  a  happy  day  !  Heaven  and  earth  rejoice,  for  thou  art 
the  great  lord  of  Egypt. 

Those  who  had  fled  have  returned  again  to  their  towns ,  and 
those  who  were  hidden  have  again  come  forth. 

Those  who  hungered  are  satisfied  and  happy ,  and  those  who 
thirsted  are  drunken. 

Those  who  were  naked  are  clad  in  fine  linen ,  and  he  who 
was  dirty  is  full  of  joy. 

Those  who  were  at  strife  in  this  land  are  reconciled. 

High  Niles  have  come  from  their  sources  that  they  may 
refresh  the  hearts  of  men. 

Widows ,  their  houses  stand  open  and  they  suffer  the 
travellers  to  enter. 

The  maidens  rejoice  and  repeat  their  songs  of  gladness. 
They  are  arrayed  in  ornaments  and  they  say : 

“  .  .  .  he  creates  generation  on  generation. 

Thou  ruler ,  thou  wilt  endure  for  ever.” 

The  ships  rejoice  on  the  deep.  .  .  . 

They  come  to  land  with  wind  or  oars. 

They  are  satisfied  .  .  .  when  it  is  said  : 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES 


147 


“  The  King  Hekme  etre  -Miamun  again  wears  the  crown, 
The  son  of  Re,  Ramesses ,  has  received  the  office  of  his 
father .” 

All  lands  say  to  him : 

“  Beautiful  is  Horus  (i.e.,  the  king)  on  the  throne  of 
Amun  who  sends  him  forth, 

(Amun)  the  protector  of  the  sovereign,  who  presents  (unto 
him)  every  land. 

A  certain  number  of  folk- tales  survive  from  the 
Imperial  Age,  of  which  the  best  known  is  the  so- 
called  “  Tale  of  the  Two  Brothers.”  Two  brothers, 
Anup  and  Bata,  lived  happily  together  tilling  their 
land.  But,  alas !  one  day  Bata,  the  younger  and 
unmarried  brother,  was  tempted  by  Anup’s  wife, 
who  had  for  long  been  in  love  with  him.  Bata, 
like  Joseph  of  Hebrew  fame,  resisted  the  woman’s 
blandishments,  but  she,  like  Mistress  Potiphar, 
putting  on  the  outraged  wife,  accused  the  innocent 
youth  to  her  husband,  who  thereupon  tried  to  slay 
him.  Bata,  poor  lad,  accordingly  fled  from  his 
home  with  his  hot-headed  assailant  close  on  his 
heels  brandishing  a  knife.  In  his  distress  he 
appealed  to  the  sun-god  Re'-Harakhte,  who  straight¬ 
way  caused  a  broad  stream  of  water,  teeming  with 
crocodiles,  to  spring  up  between  the  pursuer  and  the 
pursued.  The  tale  then  merges  into  a  series  of 
marvellous  happenings,  and,  though  full  of  interest 


148 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


to  the  student  of  folklore,  loses  much  of  the  simple 
idyllic  charm  of  the  beginning. 

Another  popular  tale  of  this  period  is  the  “  Story 
of  the  Doomed  Prince.”  A  son  was  at  last  born  to 
a  childless  king.  The  seven  Hathors,  or  Fates, 
who  came  to  decree  his  destiny,  foretold  that  he 
would  die  through  a  snake,  a  crocodile,  or  a  dog. 
When  the  child  grew  up,  he  set  out,  like  the 
princes  in  our  stories,  to  seek  his  fortune,  accom¬ 
panied  by  his  faithful  hound.  He  came  at  length 
to  the  far-off  land  of  Mitanni,  where  there  was  a 
princess  whose  father  had  shut  her  up  in  a  high 
tower  perched  on  the  top  of  a  hill.  Whoever 
succeeded  in  climbing  up  the  sheer  walls  of  the 
castle,  and  reached  the  window  of  the  room  in 
which  the  princess  was  confined,  was  to  be  pro¬ 
claimed  her  husband. 

Our  hero,  of  course,  performed  this  feat,  which 
other  wooers  had  been  essaying  for  years.  The 
princess  in  return  saved  his  life  from  a  snake.  But 
alas  !  the  rest  of  the  story  is  lost,  and  so  we  do  not 
know  whether  she  also  rescued  him  from  the 
crocodile  and  the  dog.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
know  how  the  ancient  story-teller  solved  the 
problem.  Did  the  prince,  by  his  wife’s  aid,  avoid 
his  doom  altogether,  or  did  he  somehow  fall  a 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES 


149 


victim  to  his  own  dog  ?  Perhaps  complete  versions 
of  this  and  other  similar  stories  will  be  found  in  the 
tomb  of  Tut‘enkhamun  ! 

Now  for  some  examples  of  love-songs,  such  as 
the  Egyptian  peasants  still  sing : 

1  will  lay  me  down  in  my  chamber , 
j For  I  am  sick  of  the  wrong  ( done  me). 

My  neighbours  will  come  in  to  see  me. 

Should  my  beloved  come  with  them , 

She  would  put  to  shame  the  physicians , 

For  she  knoweth  my  sickness. 

A  love-sick  maiden  sings  : 

It  is  the  voice  of  the  swallow  that  speaketh  ; 

It  saith  :  “  The  earth  is  bright ,  whither  goest  thou  ?” 

Ah  !  no,  0  bird  !  Thou  makest  me  to  sicken. 

1  have  found  my  lover  in  his  bed  and  my  heart  rejoiceth. 

He  saith  to  me  :  “  I  will  not  betake  me  far  from  thee  ; 

My  hand  abideth  in  thy  hand. 

I  walk  to  and  fro  and  am  together  with  thee  in  every  pleasant 
place.” 

He  maketh  me  the  chief  of  the  maidens  and  causeth  not  my 
heart  to  be  sick. 

In  an  unfortunately  ill-preserved  and  rather  un¬ 
intelligible  song  a  young  man  exclaims  : 

Ah  !  would  I  were  her  negress  who  is  her  handmaid , 

Then  would  I  behold  the  colour  of  all  her  limbs.  .  .  . 

Ah  !  would  I  were  her  signet  ring ,  which  is  fastened  on 
her  finger.  .  .  . 


150 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


Another  song  is  supposed  to  be  sung  by  a  girl 
making  a  wreath  of  flowers.  As  she  plies  her  task 
she  cries  : 

Blush  roses  are  in  it — one  blushes  before  thee. 

I  am  thy  first  sister. 

I  am  for  thee  as  the  garden , 

Which  I  have  planted  with  flowers , 

And  all  manner  of  sweet- smelling  herbs. 

Fair  is  the  water- channel  therein , 

Which  thy  hand  hath  digged , 

When  the  north  wind  blows  cool , 

The  beauteous  place  where  I  walk  about , 

With  thy  hand  resting  in  mine , 

And  my  heart  satiated  with  delight, 

Because  we  walk  together. 

It  is  intoxication  for  me  to  hear  thy  voice, 

And  I  live  because  I  hear  it. 

Whenever  I  see  thee, 

It  is  better  for  me  than  food  and  drink. 

This  is  a  charming  little  poem  about  the  sycamore 
tree — personified  as  a  maiden — in  the  shadow  of 
which  the  lovers  sit : 

The  little  sycamore,  which  she  (the  beloved)  hath  planted 
with  her  hand, 

Which  moves  her  mouth  to  speak. 

The  whispering  of  her  leaves  is  sweet  as  refined  honey. 
How  charming  are  her  pretty  twigs.  .  .  . 

She  is  laden  with  fruits, 

Which  are  red  as  jasper . 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES 


1  51 


Her  foliage  is  like  unto  malachite  and  is  .  .  .  as  glass. 
Her  wood  is  the  colour  of  felspar. 

She  draws  (to  herself)  those  who  are  not  ( already )  under  her , 
Her  shadow  is  (so)  cool. 

She  slips  a  letter  into  the  hand  of  a  little  maid , 

The  daughter  of  her  chief  gardener , 

And  makes  her  run  to  the  beloved. 

Come  and  pass  the  time  in  the  midst  of  thy  maiden.* 
The  garden  is  in  full  bloom  : 

There  are  bowers  and  shelters  there  for  thee. 

My  gardeners  are  glad  and  rejoice  when  they  see  thee. 

Send  thy  slaves  ahead  of  thee , 

Supplied  with  their  utensils, 

To  be  sure,  one  is  already  drunken  when  one  hastens  to  thee, 
Before  one  has  yet  drunk. 

But  the  servants  come  from  thee  with  their  vessels. 

And  bring  beer  of  every  kind  and  all  manner  of  bread, 

And  many  flowers  of  yesterday  and  to-day, 

And  all  manner  of  refreshing  fruit. 

Come  and  spend  a  happy  day, 

Yea,  to-morrow  and  the  day  after, 

Three  whole  days  in  my  shadow  /” 

Her  (the  beloved’s)  lover  sits  on  her  right  hand. 

She  maketh  him  drunken  and  listens  to  all  that  he  saith.  .  .  . 
But  I  (the  tree)  am  silent  and  tell  nought  of  what  I  see. 

I  will  say  no  word. 

There  are  many  more  songs  such  as  these  pre¬ 
served  to  us,  but  the  space  available  does  not  allow 

*  I.e.,  beneath  the  boughs  of  the  tree  personified  as  a  girl. 


152 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


more  examples  to  be  cited  here.  Moreover,  as  yet 
a  whole  field  of  literature  has  not  been  touched — 
the  religious  poetry  of  the  Imperial  Age.  Much 
of  this  poetry  is  inspired  with  the  conception  of 
God  as  a  beneficent  being  who  loves  all  his 
creatures,  and  who  is  in  close  personal  relationship 
with  man,  if  he  will  but  realize  it — a  sentiment  that 
is  not  apparent  to  anything  like  the  same  extent  in 
the  literature  of  the  earlier  periods. 

In  a  hymn  to  Amunre,  preserved  in  Cairo,  that 
divinity  is  said  to  be  : 

He  who  created  herbs  for  the  cattle , 

And  the  fruit  tree  for  men  ; 

Who  maketh  that  whereon  live  the  fishes  in  the  stream , 

And  the  birds  who  {dwell)  in  the  firmament ; 

He  who  giveth  breath  to  that  which  is  in  the  egg , 

And  maketh  to  live  the  son  of  the  worm  ; 

He  who  maketh  that  whereon  the  gnats  live , 

The  worms  and  the  flies  likewise  ; 

He  who  maketh  what  the  mice  in  their  holes  need , 

And  sustaineth  the  birds  on  all  the  trees . 

In  another  hymn  of  the  same  period  Amun 
appears  in  the  guise  of  the  good  herdsman : 

Amun ,  thou  herdsman ,  who  early  seest  after  the  cows , 

Who  leadest  the  patient  to  the  pasture. 

The  herdsman  drives  the  cows  to  the  pasture  ; 

0  Amun ,  so  thou  drivest  the  patient  to  (their)  bread. 

For  Amun  is  a  herdsman,  a  herdsman  who  is  not  idle. 


HIGH  GATE  OF  RAMESSES  III. 


This  building  at  MedTnet  Habu  imitates  the  fortress  towers  of  Palestine  and  Syria. 

(See  pp.  177,  183  foil.) 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES 


153 


Amun  is  also  addressed  as — 

Thou  pilot ,  who  knowest  the  water  ! 

Amun ,  thou  rudder  .  .  . 

Thou  experienced  one ,  who  knowest  the  shoals, 

Who  art  longed  after  by  him  who  is  on  the  water  ! 

Amun  is  present  when  one  longs  after  him  upon  the  water. 

There  is  a  distinct  sense  of  personal  relationship 
with  the  god  in  the  concluding  lines  of  the  hymn : 

O  Amun,  I  love  thee  and  I  trust  in  thee.  .  .  . 

Thou  wilt  deliver  me  from  the  mouth  of  man 
In  the  day  wherein  he  speaks  lies.  .  .  . 

I  follow  not  the  care  in  my  heart. 

What  Amun  hath  said  cometh  to  pass. 

It  is  to  Amun  again  that  the  following  verses 
represent  a  poor  and  defenceless  claimant  in  the 
law-courts  as  appealing : 

Amiln,  lend  thine  ear  to  one  who  stands  alone  in  the  court 
of  justice ! 

The  tribunal  oppress eth  him  ! 

“  Silver  and  gold  for  the  scribe  ! 

Clothes  for  the  attendants  !  ’  ’ 

But  it  is  found  that  Amun  changeth  himself  into  the  vizier , 
Whereby  he  maketh  the  poor  man  to  overcome. 

So  it  is  found  that  the  poor  man  is  justified, 

And  the  poor  man  passeth  by  the  rich. 

The  most  beautiful  in  some  respects  of  all  extant 
Egyptian  religious  poems  is  the  hymn  to  Thoth  in 

20 


154 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


one  of  the  British  Museum  papyri,  that  known  as 
Sallier  Papyrus  No.  1.  Thoth  was  the  god  of 
writing  and  recording,  and  he  it  was  who  recorded 
in  his  hook  the  result  of  the  weighing  of  the  heart 
at  the  judgment  of  the  dead  before  Osiris.  He  was 
also  the  advocate  who  had  successfully  pleaded  the 
cause  of  Osiris  against  Seth  at  the  great  trial  held 
before  Ref,  the  sun-god,  in  Heliopolis.  Accordingly, 
in  the  Imperial  Age,  when,  by  a  process  of 
democratization,  all  dead  Egyptians  were  identified 
with  Osiris,  men  and  women  alike  looked  to  Thoth 
to  plead  their  cause  and  obtain  a  favourable  verdict 
for  them  at  the  great  Assize. 

The  hymn  in  question  is  as  follows : 

0  Thoth ,  place  me  in  Hermopolis,* 

In  thy  city ,  where  life  is  pleasant. 

Thou  suppliest  all  I  need  of  food  and  drink, f 
And  thou  keepest  watch  over  my  mouth  when  I  speak. 

Ah,  may  Thoth  succour  me  to-morrow  ! 

Come  to  me,  when  I  enter  the  presence  of  the  Lords  of 
Right,  % 

And  (so  will  I)  go  out  justified. 


*  The  modern  Eshmunen,  the  great  Upper  Egyptian 
centre  of  the  worship  of  Thoth.  The  language  is  probably 
metaphorical. 

t  Lit.,  bread  and  beer. 

J  I.e.,  the  divinities  composing  the  posthumous  tribunal. 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES 


155 


Thou  great  dom-palm ,  six  ells  in  height ! 

Thou  on  whom  are  fruits  ! 

Stones  are  in  the  fruits, 

And  water  is  in  the  stones. 

Thou  who  hr  ingest  water  to  a  place  afar  off, 

Come,  deliver  me,  the  silent  one ! 

Thoth,  the  sweet  well  for  one  who  thirsteth  in  the  wilderness  ! 
It  is  closed  for  him  who  finds  words  to  say. 

It  is  open  for  the  silent. 

The  silent  cometh  and  findeth  the  well.* 

The  hot-headed  cometh — hut  thou  art  choked. 

The  idea  that  man  is  in  closer  communion  with 
God  and  more  acceptable  to  him  when  he  is  silent, 
is  also  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  the  Sage  Ani, 
whose  sayings  on  the  subject  of  duty  to  parents 
have  been  quoted  at  some  length  in  Chapter  I.  : 

The  sanctuary  of  God,  it  abhors  clamour.  Pray  with  a 
loving  heart,  in  which  all  the  words  remain  hidden.  Then 
he  doeth  what  thou  requirest  ;  he  heareth  thy  words  and 
accepteth  thine  offering. 

There  can  be  no  more  suitable  ending  for  this 
chapter  than  some  extracts  from  Akhenaton’s 
famous  hymn  to  the  sun,  of  which  the  king,  no 
doubt  justly,  claims  to  be  the  author,  and  which  so 
closely  resembles  the  104th  Psalm.  In  it  the  sun- 

*  The  metaphor  is  taken  from  the  well  in  the  desert, 
which  is  often  hidden  with  pebbles  and  sand. 


156 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


god  is  represented  as  the  All-Father,  the  source  of 
all  life.  He  it  is  who  has  created  the  different 
nations  and  assigned  them  their  divers  complexions 
and  languages.  He  has  also  provided  for  their 
sustenance,  making  the  Nile  to  well  up  out  of  the 
nether  world  to  water  the  whole  land  of  Egypt,  and 
setting  a  Nile  in  the  sky  for  other  peoples,  whence 
it  comes  down  in  rain.  He  is  the  All-Seeing  One 
and  is  also  seen  of  all.  But  to  Akhenaton  alone 
has  he  granted  a  real  measure  of  understanding  of 
his  divine  wisdom  and  power : 

Beautiful  is  thine  appearing  in  the  horizon  o  f  heaven , 

Thou  living  sun ,  the  first  who  lived  ! 

Thou  risest  in  the  eastern  horizon , 

Thou  fillest  every  land  with  thy  beauty.  .  .  . 

When  thou  goest  down  in  the  western  horizon , 

The  earth  is  in  darkness  as  if  it  were  dead.  .  .  . 

Men  sleep  in  their  chambers  with  head  wrapped  up , 

And  none  seeth  the  other.  .  .  . 

Every  lion  cometh  forth  from  his  den , 

And  all  snakes  that  bite . 

Darkness  ( reigns ), 

The  earth  is  silent , 

For  he  who  hath  created  it  rests  in  his  horizon . 

When  it  is  dawn  and  thou  risest  in  the  horizon  and  shinest 
as  the  sun  in  the  day , 

Thou  dispellest  the  darkness  and  sheddest  thy  beams. 


POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES 


157 


The  Two  Lands  (Egypt)  keep  festival,  awake,  and  stand 
on  their  feet, 

For  thou  hast  raised  them  up. 

They  wash  their  bodies, 

They  take  their  clothes, 

Their  hands  {are  uplifted)  in  adoration  to  thy  rising. 

The  whole  land  does  its  work. 

All  cattle  are  content  with  their  pasture, 

The  trees  and  plants  flourish. 

The  birds  fly  out  of  their  nests, 

Their  wings  ( raised )  in  adoration  to  thee. 

All  wild  small  cattle  dance  on  their  feet, 

All  that  fly  and  flutter — 

They  live  when  thou  risest  for  them. 

The  ships  voyage  down  and  up  stream  likewise, 

Every  way  is  open,  because  thou  risest. 

The  fishes  in  the  river  leap  up  before  thy  face  ; 

Thy  rays  are  in  the  great  green  sea.  .  .  . 


The  chick  in  the  egg  {already)  chirpeth  in  the  shell, 

{For)  thou  givest  him  breath  within  it  to  sustain  his  life. 
Thou  makest  for  him  his  strength  {?)  in  the  egg  in  order  to 
break  it  ; 

He  cometh  forth  from  the  egg  to  chirp  with  all  his  might  {?) 
He  walketh  upon  his  feet  when  he  cometh  forth  therefrom. 


How  manifold  are  thy  works, 

They  are  hidden  from  me, 

O  sole  god,  to  whom  none  is  to  be  likened.  .  .  . 


158 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


The  lands  of  Syria  and  Ethiopia , 

The  land  of  Egypt , 

Every  man  thou  settest  in  his  place , 

Thou  suppliest  their  needs. 

Everyone  possesseth  his  sustenance , 
the  length  of  his  days  is  reckoned. 

Their  tongues  are  separate  in  speech , 
their  character  likewise. 

Their  skin  is  different , 

(T’or)  thou  distinguishest  between  the  peoples. 

Thou  makest  the  Nile  in  the  underworld , 

T/iom  bringest  it  (up)  as  thou  desirest, 

In  order  to  sustain  the  life  of  the  people  of  Egypt.  .  .  . 

All  distant  strange  lands , 

Thou  makest  their  sustenance. 

Thou  puttest  for  them  a  Nile  in  the  firmament. 

It  comes  down  for  them , 

It  makes  wells  upon  the  hills  like  the  great  green  sea , 

In  order  to  water  their  fields  in  their  townships . 

How  excellent  are  thy  designs ,  0  Lord  of  Eternity  ! 

The  Nile  in  the  firmament ,  thou  givest  it  to  the  strange 
peoples , 

And  to  all  the  wild  beasts  of  the  wilderness  who  go  upon 
their  feet. 

(But)  the  (real)  Nile  it  wells  up  from  the  nether  world  for 
Timur  is.  .  .  . 

Thou  didst  make  the  sky  afar  in  order  to  rise  therein , 

In  order  to  behold  all  that  thou  hast  made  .  .  . 

Cities ,  townships ,  fields ,  road  and  river — 


rOEMS,  SONGS,  AND  ROMANCES 


159 


All  men  behold  thee  over  against  them , 

For  thou  art  Aton  of  the  day  aloft.  .  .  . 

Thou  art  in  my  heart , 

There  is  none  other  that  knoweth  thee , 

Save  thy  son  Neferkheprure  Wa-nere  ( Akhenaton ), 

Thou  makest  him  to  comprehend  thy  designs  and  thy 
power.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  VII 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 

The  city  of  Thebes  was  divided  by  the  Nile  into 
two  parts,  a  western  and  an  eastern.  The  eastern 
half  was  the  main  city,  containing  the  residential 
and  business  quarters  and  the  great  temples  of 
Luxor  and  Karnak.  The  western  half,  to  which 
was  attached  the  vast  Theban  necropolis,  seems  to 
have  been  largely  occupied  by  the  officials,  great 
and  small,  who  had  charge  of  the  necropolis,  and 
by  the  host  of  artisans  subordinate  to  them,  whose 
business  it  was  to  excavate  and  decorate  the  tombs 
and  tomb-chapels  and  keep  them  in  repair,  and  to 
manufacture  and  supply  the  elaborate  funerary 
equipment,  with  which  every  upper  and  middle- 
class  Egyptian  of  the  Imperial  Age  wished  to  be 
furnished  at  death.  Here  also  were  the  workshops 
of  the  embalmers  and  their  residences. 

At  the  foot  of  the  hills  and  towering  cliffs, 
which  form  the  background  of  the  Theban  plain 
on  the  western  side  of  the  river,  extends  a  long 

160 


XXIII 


COLOSSAL  STATUE,  THEBES. 

One  of  a  pair  placed  at  the  entrance  of  the  funerary  temple  of  Amenhotpe  111. 

(See  p.  ih8.) 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


161 


line  of  temples  —  the  funerary  temples  of  the 
great  emperors  of  the  Eighteenth,  Nineteenth,  and 
Twentieth  Dynasties.  These  splendid  buildings, 
however,  were  not  only  intended  to  provide  for  the 
posthumous  welfare  of  the  Pharaohs  who  erected 
them,  but  they  were  also  dedicated  to  the  worship 
of  the  State-god,  Amun.  Apart  from  the  actual 
temple  buildings,  the  sacred  precincts  included 
gardens  and  orchards,  ornamental  lakes,  store¬ 
houses,  cattle-sheds,  the  dwellings  of  the  priests, 
and  the  quarters  of  the  numberless  slaves,  mostly 
foreign  captives,  who  worked  on  the  temple  estates 
as  agricultural  labourers  or  herdsmen,  or  as  masons, 
joiners,  and  the  like.  As  we  shall  see,  to  one 
temple  at  least  a  school  was  attached,  just  as 
schools  are  often  associated  with  mosques  at  the 
present  day. 

Several  of  the  great  Pharaohs,  Hatshepsut, 
Amenhotpe  III.,  Ramesses  II.,  and  Ramesses  III., 
are  known  to  have  built  themselves  palaces  adjoin¬ 
ing,  or  in  close  proximity  to,  their  funerary  temples. 
In  the  ruins  of  Amenhotpe’s  palace  was  found  the 
beautiful  fragment  of  ceiling  decoration  figured 
and  discussed  on  pp.  80  foil. 

In  the  space  of  one  chapter  it  is  impossible  to 
describe  all  the  magnificent  remains  of  western 

21 


162 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


Thebes  in  any  detail.  It  will  be  best,  therefore, 
to  devote  the  following  pages  to  the  discussion  of 
points  not  usually  brought  forward  in  the  guide 
books  or  in  popular  works  dealing  with  Ancient 
Egypt. 

The  most  famous,  and  probably  the  most 
beautiful,  of  all  the  royal  funerary  temples  is  that 
of  Queen  Hatshepsut,  which,  like  all  the  others, 
was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  Amun,  but  also 
contained  chapels  of  Anubis,  the  tutelary  god  ot 
the  dead,  and  the  goddess  Hathor,  in  whose  cult 
women  figured  so  prominently.  This  temple  with 
its  three  terraces,  each  connected  with  the  other 
by  an  inclined  way,  and  its  beautiful  colonnades 
composed  of  rectangular  and  polygonal  columns,  is 
a  unique  product  of  Egyptian  architectural  genius. 
It  has  already  been  mentioned  above  how  the  great 
queen  placed  the  incense-trees  she  had  brought 
from  Punt  along  the  terraces,  in  imitation  of  the 
tree-clad  slopes  of  Somaliland.  A  drawing  of  the 
temple  as  it  appears  at  the  present  day  is  to  be 
seen  on  Plate  XV. 

In  the  southern  half  of  the  colonnade,  at  the  back 
of  the  second  or  middle  terrace,  are  the  reliefs  depict¬ 
ing  Hatshepsut’s  expedition  to  Punt.  The  northern 
half  (see  Plate  XVI.)  contains  the  representations 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


163 


of  her  divine  birth,  her  reception  by  the  sun-god  at 
Heliopolis,  her  presentation  to  the  notables  of 
Egypt  by  her  father,  and  her  coronation,  of  which 
events  the  last  three  have  been  described  at  some 
length  in  Chapter  V. 

The  reliefs  and  accompanying  inscriptions 
relating  to  the  queen’s  birth  have  already  been 
referred  to  in  Chapter  III.,  where  mention  was 
made  of  a  similar  series  of  scenes  in  the  temple 
of  Luxor.  They  are  of  first-rate  interest  and 
importance,  and  well  deserve  our  notice. 

In  the  first  scene  we  see  Amun  addressing  the 
nine  great  divinities,  the  ennead,  of  Heliopolis,  and 
informing  them  of  his  intention  to  beget  a  new 
ruler  of  Egypt,  to  whom  he  promises  every 
blessing. 

In  the  next  scene  Amun  is  shown  speaking  to 
Thoth,  whom  he  questions  about  Ahmose,  the 
mother  that  is  to  be  of  Hatshepsut.  Thoth 
replies  that  Ahmose  is  more  beautiful  than  all 
women ,  and  he  is  depicted  in  the  next  relief  lead¬ 
ing  Amun  to  her.  The  text  accompanying  this 
latter  scene  is  that  rendered  above  on  pp.  68  foil., 
which  relates  how  Amun  made  his  mode  of  being 
the  majesty  of  the  reigning  Pharaoh,  and  how  he 
came  by  night  into  the  sleeping  queen’s  chamber. 


164 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


We  next  see  the  god  and  Ahmose  seated  side 
by  side  and  conversing  with  one  another  (Fig.  37). 
The  queen  says  to  Arnun :  My  lord ,  how  great  is 
thy  glory !  Splendid  is  it  to  behold  thy  presence . 

Thou  hast  filled  my  majesty 
with  thine  excellence.  Thy 
dew  is  in  all  my  limbs. 

Amun  on  his  part  tells 
the  queen  that  Hatshep- 
sut  is  to  be  the  name  of 
this  thy  son *  *  whom  1  have 
planted  in  thy  womb ,  and 
he  forecasts  for  the  child 
a  glorious  and  happy 
reign.  This,  like  all  the 
other  scenes  of  the  series 
in  question,  is  depicted 

in  a  symbolical  manner. 
Flg*/!'~Dmun  +-ld  n1!6  Mofher  Amun  appears  in  his 

or  the  Prospective  rharaoh.  1  L 

(After  Gayet,  “  Temple  de  Louxor.”)  divine  form,  not  in  the 

guise  of  the  queen’s  hus¬ 
band,  and,  in  order  to  indicate  the  ecstatic  and 
heavenly  nature  of  the  visitation,  the  pair  are 

*  The  masculine  word  shows  that  the  text  is  traditional, 
and  referred  to  all  the  Pharaohs,  and  was  not  specially  com¬ 
posed  for  Hatshepsut. 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


165 


represented  as  seated  upon  the  sign  for  heaven, 
which  is  raised  aloft  by  two  goddesses  high  above 
the  bed  on  which  the  queen  had  been  lying. 

In  subsequent  scenes  we  see  Amun  bidding 
the  potter-god, 

Khnum,  fashion 
the  body  of  the 
promised  child  ; 

Khnum  actually 
engaged  in  model¬ 
ling  the  child  and 
its  ha ,  or  double, 
on  his  wheel,  while 
Heket,  his  consort, 
extends  the  symbol 

of  life  to  the  child’s  Fig-  38.— Khnum  fashioning  the  Unborn 

Child. 

face  (see  Fig.  38)  ; 
and  Thoth  announc¬ 
ing  to  Queen  Ahmose  that  she  will  give  birth  to 
an  heiress  and  daughter  of  Geb.* 

Next  come  representations  of  the  royal  accouche¬ 
ment  and  incidents  connected  therewith.  Khnum 
and  Heket  (in  the  Luxor  reliefs  Hathor  takes  the 
place  of  Heket)  lead  the  pregnant  queen  to  the 

*  The  earth-god  and  a  primaeval  king  of  Egypt,  in  which 
capacity  he  was,  like  Ref,  a  divine  pattern  of  kingship. 


{After  Gayet.) 


166 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


place  where  she  is  to  be  delivered,  the  god 
assuring  her  that  she  who  opens  thy  womb  shall  be 
greater  than  all  [other)  kings. 

During  the  actual  birth,  which  takes  place  in  the 
presence  of  Amun  and  other  divinities,  the  queen 
sits  on  her  couch,  and  four  goddesses,  presided  over 


Pig.  39. — Birth  of  the  Sun-God’s  Human  Heir. 

{After  Gayet.) 


by  Meskhent,  the  goddess  of  birth,  offer  her  their 
assistance  in  the  capacity  of  mid  wives  (Fig.  39). 
In  addition  to  the  greater  divinities  already 
enumerated,  a  number  of  genii,  including  the 
“  souls  ”  of  the  pre-dynastic  kings  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt  (see  p.  117),  are  depicted  kneeling  in 
two  rows  and  offering  the  queen  the  symbol  of  life. 
In  the  middle  of  these  two  rows  are  the  symbols  of 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


167 


protection,  good  fortune,  life,  stability,  and  millions 
of  years,*  and  in  the  lower  row,  at  the  foot  of  the 
bed,  the  figures  of  the  grotesque  demi-god  Best 
and  the  hippopotamus-goddess  Taweret.J  These 
symbols  and  figures  really  constituted  the  decora- 


Fig.  40. — Hathor  presenting  the  New-Born  Child  to  Amun. 

(After  Gayet.) 


tion  of  the  bed,  appearing  regularly  as  carvings  on 
the  foot-boards  of  extant  couches  and  on  the  sides 
and  backs  of  chairs.  The  way  in  which  the  last- 
mentioned  divinities  are  here  depicted  admirably 

*  In  the  Luxor  relief  here  reproduced  the  sign  for  stability 
is  omitted. 

t  Generally  depicted  as  a  dancer  wearing  a  lion-mask. 

X  The  goddess  of  the  enceinte. 


168 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


illustrates  the  Egyptian  idea  with  regard  to  the 
purpose  of  such  decoration — it  ensured  the  actual 
presence  of  the  beings  represented,  who  would 
extend  their  protection  to  those  who  reclined  or 
sat  on  the  couch  or  chair. 

The  queen  safely  delivered,  the  goddess  Hathor 
presents  the  child  to  Amun,  whose  heart  is  very 
happy  (see  Fig.  40).  After  dandling  her  on  his 
knee  and  kissing  her,  the  god  appoints  divine 
nurses  to  suckle  the  child  and  its  ka9  among  them 
being  the  tutelary  goddesses  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt,  the  scorpion  goddess  Selket,  and  the  sacred 
Hesat- cow  identified  with  both  Isis  and  Hathor. 
In  the  adjacent  cut  (Fig.  41)  the  queen  is  seen 
sitting  on  her  bed  with  a  goddess  supporting  her, 
while  in  front  of  her  two  divinities  (cow-headed 
in  the  Deir  el-Bahri  version  of  the  scene)  are 
actively  engaged  in  the  duty  assigned  to  them. 
Below  the  couch  again  two  sacred  cows  perform 
the  same  office  as  the  two  last-mentioned  divinities. 

Of  the  four  final  reliefs,  the  two  most  interesting 
represent  the  gods  determining  the  duration  of  the 
new-born  infant’s  life, — their  decision  being  entered 
in  a  book  by  Seshat,  the  goddess  of  reckoning — 
and  Anubis  rolling  a  sieve  in  front  of  him.  This 
last- mentioned  practice  in  connection  with  the 


xxrv 


/Z.,/  '/s*/*  /a^nT 


TOMBS  OF  TI1E  KINGS. 
View  towards  upper  end  of  valley. 


- 


— 

I 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


169 


birth  of  a  child  is  still  found  surviving  in  the  oases 
of  Ivhargeh  and  Dakhleh.  It  is  the  custom  in 
these  localities  to  place  a  child  seven  days  after  its 
birth  in  a  sieve  along  with  some  salt  and  grains  of 


Fig.  41. — The  Suckling  of  the  Child. 

(After  Gayet.) 


corn,  which  are  sifted  through  and  scattered  in  the 
village.  “  The  ceremony  is  then  completed  by 
the  father  of  the  child  trundling  the  sieve  like  a 
hoop  through  the  streets  of  the  village.  .  .  .  The 

22 


170 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


sieve  is  trundled  about  so  that  when  the  child 
grows  up  he  may  be  able  to  run  quickly. 

The  next  funerary  temple  that  must  engage  our 
attention  here  is  that  of  Ramesses  II.,  commonly 
called  the  Ramesseum,  of  which  unfortunately 
only  about  half  survives. 

The  inner  face  of  the  great  towered  gateway  or 
pylon — the  outer  face  is  just  a  jumble  of  fallen 
stones — is  covered  with  reliefs  illustrating  or  re¬ 
lating  to  Ramesses’  war  with  the  Hittites.  On 
the  northern  tower  the  enemy  chariotry  are  break¬ 
ing  into  the  Egyptian  camp ;  on  the  southern  tower 
Ramesses,  single-handed,  drives  the  routed  foe 
before  him  into  the  river  Orontes,  the  feat  immor¬ 
talized  in  the  poem  quoted  above  on  pp.  141-144. 

Of  the  outer  court,  lying  behind  the  pylon,  and 
once  colonnaded,  only  fragments  of  the  west  wall 
remain,  in  front  of  which,  broken  in  pieces,  lies  a 
gigantic  granite  statue  of  Ramesses.  When  com¬ 
plete  and  erect  it  stood  nearly  sixty  feet  high  and 
weighed  about  a  thousand  tons  (see  Plate  XVII.) ! 

The  second  court,  which  is  somewhat  better 
preserved,  was  colonnaded  on  all  four  sides.  On 
the  north  and  south  sides  were  two  rows  of 
papyrus-bud  columns,  while  on  the  east  and  west 

*  “  Ancient  Egypt,”  1915,  p.  88. 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


171 


sides  was  a  single  row  of  rectangular  pillars  with 
so-called  Osirid  statues  of  the  Pharaoh  in  front, 
and,  on  the  west  side  of  the  court  only,  behind  the 
pillars  a  corresponding  number  of  columns  like 
those  above  mentioned.  Some  of  the  columns  in 
the  northern  half  of  the  court  are  still  standing,  as 


Fig.  42. — The  Battle  of  Kadesh. 

(A fter  Breasted. ) 


are  also  some  of  the  pillars  decorated  with  the 
Osirid  statues,  all  the  statues  except  one,  however, 
being  now  headless  (see  Plates  XVIII.  and  XX.). 

On  the  lower  part  of  the  northern  half  of  the 
east  wall  of  this  court  is  yet  another  representation 
of  Harnesses’  great  achievement  at  the  battle  of 
Kadesh.  The  adjoining  cut  (Fig.  42)  is  a  drawing 


172 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


of  the  northern  portion  of  the  relief,  wherein  the 
Pharaoh  is  seen  charging  the  fleeing  and  prostrate 
foe.  Fig.  36  on  p.  145,  which  shows  the  king  of 
Aleppo  being  held  upside  down  by  his  soldiers, 
and  fugitives  swimming  across  the  river  and  being 
pulled  out  by  their  friends  on  the  other  side,  is  a 
drawing  of  part  of  the  southern  half  of  the  same 
relief.  Close  to  the  group  of  figures  engaged  in 
resuscitating  the  king  of  Aleppo  stood  the  Hittite 
monarch  in  his  chariot — the  relief  is  badly  damaged 
just  here — with  eight  thousand  footguards  drawn 
up  beside  him.  Above  them  is  depicted  the 
walled  city  of  Kadesh,  surrounded  by  two  moats 
(see  Fig.  43). 

The  upper  portion  of  the  same  half  of  the  wall  is 
devoted  to  a  representation  of  the  great  annual 
harvest  festival,  about  which  more  will  be  said  in 
connection  with  a  similar  relief  in  the  funerary 
temple  of  Ramesses  III.  (see  below,  pp.  179  foil.). 

Three  stairways  led  up  to  the  western  colonnade, 
which  was  raised  on  a  sort  of  terrace.  On  either 
side  of  the  central  flight  of  steps  was  a  colossal 
statue  of  the  king  in  red  granite,  fragments  of 
which  still  strew  the  ground.  Three  doors  in  the 
wall  at  the  back  of  this  colonnade  admit  to  a  great 
hypostyle  hall,  the  roof  of  which  was  borne  on 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


173 


forty-eight  columns.  The  nave,  consisting  of  three 
aisles,  is  higher  than  the  side-aisles,  and  the  space 


Fig.  43. — Hittit.e  Soldiers  and  the  Walled  City  of  Kadesh. 
[After  Baikie,  “  The  Story  of  the  Pharaohs.") 


between  the  two  roof  levels  is  occupied  by  grated 
clerestory  windows.  Many  of  the  columns  in  the 


174 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


side  aisles  have  disappeared,  together  with  most  of 
the  once  gorgeous  colouring;  but,  despite  its  ruinous 
condition,  the  hall  is  still  most  impressive,  as  can  be 
plainly  seen  from  the  drawings  on  Plates  XVII. 
and  XIX. 

On  the  southern  half  of  the  east  wall  of  this  hall 


Fig.  44. — The  Attack  on  Dapur. 

[After  Lepsius.) 


is  a  well-preserved  relief  depicting  the  storming 
of  the  ITittite  fortress  of  Dapur  (see  Fig.  44). 
Harnesses  II.  in  his  chariot  dashes  in  among  the 
flying  enemy  who  flee  towards  the  city,  against  the 
walls  of  which  the  Egyptian  troops  are  already 
placing  their  scaling-ladders.  Some  of  the  fugitive 
Hittites,  it  will  be  noted,  are  being  hauled  up  into 
the  city  by  means  of  ropes,  the  gates  having  been 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


175 


shut  upon  them.  A  similar  incident  occurred,  it 
will  be  remembered,  after  Dhutmose’s  defeat  of 
the  Syrians  outside  Megiddo  (see  above,  p.  95). 

Behind  this  large  hall  are  two  much  smaller  halls. 
The  first  of  these  has  a  ceiling  decorated  with 
interesting  astronomical  representations  ;  the  second 
is  half  destroyed.  The  sanctuary  and  its  surround¬ 
ing  chambers,  as  also  yet  another  columned  hall, 
have  been  completely  destroyed. 

Some  of  the  ruined  brick  buildings,  which  still 
surround  the  temple  on  three  sides,  were  evidently 
magazines  and  offices,  others  being  possibly  the 
dwellings  of  the  priests.  Included  among  them 
was  a  school,  the  proof  of  the  existence  of  which 
lies  in  the  fact  that  a  number  of  flakes  of  limestone 
covered  with  writing  in  ink  —  ostraca  is  the 
technical  term — have  been  found  scattered  about 
the  ruins,  and  especially  in  a  small  rubbish  mound. 
These  ostraca  were  the  “  slates  ”  of  the  Ancient 
Egyptian  schoolboys,  who,  when  they  had  shown  up 
their  writing  exercises  and  had  had  them  duly 
corrected,  threw  them  away,  just  as  we  should 
throw  away  used-up  sheets  of  foolscap.  On  these 
ostraca  are  found  choice  passages  from  well-known 
literary  works,  which  the  boys  were  made  to  write 
out,  perhaps  at  dictation,  both  in  order  to  teach 


176 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


them  the  very  difficult  and  complicated  Egyptian 
script,  and  also  to  familiarize  them  with  the 
literary  language  and  so  give  them  some  idea  of 
style. 

Evidently  the  schoolboys  of  the  second  mil¬ 
lennium  b.c.  were  just  as  stupid  and  neglectful  as 
those  of  to  -  day.  The  following  admonitions, 
among  many  others  of  a  similar  character,  were 
regularly  given  to  the  Theban  boy  to  write  out  by 
way  of  an  exercise  in  calligraphy,  and  also,  no  doubt, 
to  improve  his  mind  :  O  writer ,  be  not  idle ,  be  not 
idle ,  lest  thou  be  soundly  chastised.  Set  not  thine 
heart  on  pleasures  or  thou  wilt  come  to  destruction. 
Write  with  thine  hand ,  read  with  thy  mouth ,  and 
ask  counsel  of  those  who  know  more  than  thou.  .  .  . 
Pass  not  a  day  in  idleness ,  or  thou  wilt  be  beaten. 
The  ear  of  a  boy  is  in  his  back ,  he  listens  when  he  is 
beaten.  .  .  .  Write  on ,  sicken  not  of  it.  Be  atten¬ 
tive ,  hearken  to  my  words.  Thou  wilt  find  them 
profitable.  Such  excellent  sentiments  are  not 
surpassed  in  modern  copy-books  ! 

The  best  preserved  of  all  the  mortuary  temples, 
with  the  exception  perhaps  of  Hatshepsut’s  at  Deir 
el-Bahri,  is  that  of  Ramesses  III.,  the  largest  of  the 
group  of  three  temples  at  Medlnet  Habu,  of  which 
the  other  two  date,  the  one  from  the  Eighteenth 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


177 


Fig.  45. — The  Temple  of  Medlnet  Habu. 

( After  Holscher ,  “  Das  hohe  Tor  von  Medinet  ■  Ilabu.  ”) 

23 


178 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


Dynasty,  '"  and  the  other  from  the  Saite  Period  (see 
Plate  I.).  Ramesses  surrounded  his  temple  with 
crenellated  walls  eighteen  metres  high  and  over 
seven  metres  thick,  the  total  area  enclosed  measuring 
two  hundred  and  ten  by  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  metres  ;  within  the  walls  was  included  the 
above  -  mentioned  Eighteenth  Dynasty  temple. 
Fig.  45,  a  restoration  by  the  German  archgeologist 
Holscher,  shows  what  the  temple  and  its  surround¬ 
ings  appeared  like  when  intact. 

We  will  first  confine  our  attention  to  the  main 
temple  buildings,  which  closely  resemble  in  plan 
the  Ramesseum.  A  pylon  admits  to  a  court  with 
a  colonnade  on  the  north  and  south  sides,  that  on 
the  south  forming  the  facade  of  Ramesses’  palace, 
which  was  built  along  this  side  of  the  temple. 
Three  doors  in  the  wall  behind  the  southern  colon¬ 
nade  admitted  to  the  palace,  and  in  the  centre  is  a 
large  balcony  window,  where  the  Pharaoh  would 
show  himself  to  his  subjects  on  special  occasions 
(cf  above,  p.  108).  Ramesses  tells  us  that  this  palace 
was  like  the  great  house  of  A  turn  (the  sun-god)  which 
is  in  heaven.  The  columns ,  door-posts ,  and  doors 
were  of  gold  (i.e.,  overlaid  with  gold).  The  great 
balcony  window  for  the  appearance  (of  the  king)  was 

*  Restored  and  enlarged  by  the  Ethiopian  and  Saite 
Pharaohs  and  by  the  Ptolemies. 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


179 


of  gold — that  is  to  say,  the  decorations  around  the 
window  were  overlaid  or  encrusted  with  the  precious 
metal.  A  second  pylon  at  the  back  (west  side)  of 
the  court  admits  to  another  court,  which  is  colon¬ 
naded  on  all  four  sides  (Plate  XXI.).  The  great 
hall  of  twenty-four  columns,  the  cultus- chambers 
on  the  north,  and  the  store-chambers  on  the  south 
side  of  it,  as  well  as  the  rooms  behind  it — namely, 
two  smaller  hypostyle  halls,  the  sanctuary  and  its 
associated  chambers — are  now  all  roofless  and  in  a 
very  ruinous  condition. 

The  inner  face  of  the  first  pylon  is  decorated  with 
reliefs  illustrating  the  war  which  Ramesses  III. 
waged  with  the  Libyans  in  the  eleventh  year  of  his 
reign,  and  which  has  been  discussed  above  in 
Chapter  IV.,  pp.  108  foil.  On  the  outer  face  of  the 
second  pylon  are  reliefs  and  inscriptions  referring  to 
his  victorious  campaign  in  Syria  against  the  league 
of  northern  nations  (see  above,  pp.  104  foil.). 

The  upper  part  of  the  walls  behind  the  colon¬ 
nades  in  the  northern  half  of  the  second  court  are 
devoted  to  a  representation  of  the  great  harvest 
festival,  yearly  celebrated  in  honour  of  Min  and 
apparently  also  in  commemoration  of  the  Pharaoh’s 
accession. 

In  the  first  scene  (Fig.  46)  we  see  the  Pharaoh 
carried  in  procession  from  his  palace  to  the  temple 


180 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


of  Min.  He  is  seated  in  a  canopied  litter,  elabor¬ 
ately  decorated,  which  is  borne  on  the  shoulders  of 
twelve  of  his  sons.  Flabellifers  walk  in  front  of, 
behind,  and  beside  him.  Behind  the  litter  and  its 
bearers  walk  courtiers,  high  officials,  and  soldiers, 
and  in  front  of  it  three  priests,  two  of  whom  burn 
incense  and  the  third  recites  from  a  book.  They 


Fig.  46. — The  Pharaoh  carried  in  State  to  the  Temple  of  Min. 

{After  Wilkinson.) 


are  preceded  by  more  courtiers  and  officials,  the 
whole  procession  being  headed  by  a  trumpeter  and 
a  drummer,  and  men  rattling  castanets. 

Having  arrived  at  the  temple  of  Min,  a  fertility 
god  and  originally  the  local  divinity  of  the  not  far 
distant  city  of  Coptos,  the  king  made  offering  to 
him.  This  done,  the  image  of  Min  was  placed  on 
a  litter  draped  with  a  large  cloth  or  carpet  which 
almost  swept  the  ground,  and  carried  in  procession 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


181 


by  a  number  of  priests,  while  other  priests  walked 
alongside  of  and  behind  the  image  carrying  flabellee, 
emblems,  and  shrines  (Fig.  47).  Immediately  in 
front  of  the  litter  marched  the  Pharaoh,  preceded 
by  a  white  bull  (the  sacred  animal  of  Min),  the 
queen,  an  officiant  reciting  from  a  book,  and  a  long 


Fig.  47. — The  Image  of  Min  carried  on  a  Litter. 

( After  Wilkinson) 

line  of  priests  carrying  standards,  cultus-vessels, 
and  statues  of  the  king  and  his  ancestors. 

The  procession  having  reached  the  scene  of  opera¬ 
tions,  the  so-called  “  terrace  ”  of  the  Temple  of 
Min,  priests  let  fly  four  birds  to  announce  to  the 
four  quarters  of  heaven  that  Horus  son  of  Isis  and 
Osiris  has  assumed  the  great  crown  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt ;  the  king  Harnesses  III.  has  assumed 
the  great  crown  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  (se 


182 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


Fig.  48).  The  Pharaoh  is  next  shown  (Fig.  49)  hold¬ 
ing  a  sickle  in  his  hand  and  making  offering  first  of  a 
newly  reaped  sheaf  of  spelt  and  then  of  one  of  barley  ; 
a  priest  stands  ready  to  take  either  sheaf  from  the 
royal  hand.  At  this  performance  the  king,  in  his 
capacity  of  Horus,  is  said  to  be  reaping  barley  for 


Fig.  48. — The  Birds  flying  to  the  Four  Quarters  of  Heaven. 

( A fter  W ilkinson. ) 


his  father — i.e .,  for  Osiris — thereby,  as  Dr.  A.  H. 
Gardiner  points  out,  vindicating  his  title  to  the  king- 
ship  and  his  patrimony  as  son  of  Osiris.*  While 
the  Pharaoh  was  thus  engaged  a  lector  recited 
formula?  from  a  book,  and  the  queen  also  sang  or 

*  A.  H.  Gardiner,  “Journal  of  Egyptian  Archaeology,,, 
ii.,  p.  125. 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


183 


repeated  some  hymn  or  spell,  whereby  she  is  said  to 
make  the  lung  triumph  over  his  enemies. 

The  outside  of  the  temple  walls,  be  it  here  noted, 
are  covered  with  most  interesting  historical  reliefs, 
commemorating  for  the  most  part  the  wars  of 


Fig.  49. — The  Pharaoh  offering  a  Sheaf  of  Barley. 

{After  Wilkinson.) 


Harnesses  III.  Thus  the  naval  battle,  figured  on 
p.  107,  is  on  the  outside  north  wall  of  the  second 
court. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  building  at  Medinet 
Habu  is  the  so-called  High  Gate,  which,  instead  of 


184 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


the  usual  pylon,  forms  the  entrance  to  the  temple 
precincts.  The  walls  of  the  two  towers  composing 
the  gate  are  almost  straight,  and  have  not  that 
batter  which  is  such  a  distinctive  feature  of  the 
walls  of  the  ordinary  pylon.  The  space  between 
the  towers  gets  narrower  and  narrower  as  one 
passes  inwards,  and  finally,  as  can  be  seen  in 
Fig.  45,  and  Plate  XXII.,  they  are  united  by  a 
third  tower,  in  the  middle  of  which  is  the  gateway. 

The  towers  consisted  of  a  ground  floor  and  two 
upper  stories,  the  latter  lit  by  windows,  once  filled 
with  wooden  gratings  and  commanding  a  wonder¬ 
ful  view  of  the  Nile  Valley.  In  the  foreground  lay 
the  tree -encircled  lake  (see  below,  p.  187)  and 
the  wide  expanse  of  fertile  fields  stretching  end¬ 
lessly  north  and  south ;  in  the  near  distance  the 
glimmering  waters  of  the  great  river,  and  eastern 
Thebes  with  its  gorgeous  temples  ;  and  behind  all 
these  the  precipitous  hills  of  the  Red  Sea  desert, 
pale  and  wan-looking  in  broad  daylight,  but  glow¬ 
ing  like  amethysts  in  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun. 

Just  below  the  first-story  windows  on  the  inner 
face  of  the  two  flanking  towers  are  curious  brackets 
decorated  with  the  heads  and  shoulders  of  foreign 
captives,  and  on  them  once  stood  statues  of 
Ramesses  smiting  his  enemies. 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


185 


These  upstairs  apartments  were  evidently  assigned 
to  the  royal  liar  mi,  when  the  court  was  in  residence 
in  the  palace  adjoining  the  temple,  as  is  suggested 
by  the  reliefs  decorating  their  walls,  these  repre¬ 
senting  the  king  surrounded  by  his  women.  A 
typical  example  of 
them  is  Fig.  50, 
which  shows  his 
majesty  playing 
draughts  with  one 

of  his  harim- 

• 

favourites,  who 

holds  out  a  posy  for 

her  lord  to  smell. 

The  High  Gate 

is  almost  certainly 

non  -  Egyptian  in 

its  general  design  Fig-  50. — Ramesses  III.  with  One  of  the 
”  &  Ladies  of  his  Harim. 

and  the  usually 
accepted  view  is 
that  it  was  copied  from  the  towered  gates  admit¬ 
ting  to  the  Syrian  or  Babylonian  fenced  cities. 

The  temple  of  Ramesses  III.  was  most  magnifi¬ 
cent,  both  in  its  decoration  and  in  its  furnishing,  and, 
like  all  the  royal  funerary  temples,  was  richly 

endowed.  The  reliefs  and  inscriptions  inside  and 

24 


( A fter  W ilkinson . ) 


186 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


outside  the  building  were  brilliantly  coloured.  The 
doors ,  we  are  told,  were  of  gold  and  copper  in 
beaten  work.  Its  towers  were  of  stone  soaring 
heavenwards ,  adorned  and  carved  with  the  chisel . 
The  cultus-image  of  Amun  was  adorned  with  real 
costly  stones  like  the  horizon ,  and  when  it  appeared  in 
processions  men  rejoiced  to  behold  it.  Many  of  the 
vessels  employed  in  the  service  of  the  god  were  of 
fine  gold,  and  there  were  others  of  silver  and  copper 
without  number.  The  temple  treasury,  still  per¬ 
fectly  preserved,  was  filled  with  gold ,  silver ,  aiid 
every  costly  stone  by  the  hundred  thousand. 

The  temple  had  its  own  flotilla  of  ships  on  the 
river,  and  these  came  laden  with  ba?dey  and  wheat 
for  transport  without  cessation  to  its  granary ,  which 
consequently  was  always  overflowing  with  grain. 
As  for  the  fields  belonging  to  the  temple  and  its  herds , 
their  multitudes  were  like  the  sand  of  the  shore. 

The  funerary  temple  of  Amenhotpe  III.  was 
similarly  endowed  and  equipped.  Its  barns ,  the 
Pharaoh  asserts,  contain  good  things  without  number. 

.  .  .  Its  cattle  are  like  the  sand  of  the  shore ,  they 
make  up  millions.  .  .  .  Its  storehouse  is  filled  with 
male  and  female  servants ,  with  the  children  of  the 
princes  of  all  foreign  countries  which  his  majesty  has 
captured.  ...  It  (the  temple)  is  surrounded  with 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


187 


settlements  of  Syrians ,  colonized  with  the  children  of 
princes. 

Not  far  from  the  walled-in  precincts  of  his  temple, 
in  order  to  secure  to  it  a  constant  supply  of  water, 
Ramesses  III.  excavated  a  great  lake,  which  was 
planted  with  trees  and  vegetation  like  the  Delta. 
Within  the  precincts  were  gardens  and  places  with 
arbours ,  filled  with  fruits  and  flowers.  There  was 
also  a  pool,  supplied  with  lotus  flowers  (see  Fig.  45). 
Such  a  pool  seems  to  have  been  as  essential  an 
adjunct  to  a  funerary  temple  as  to  one  entirely 
dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  gods.  Thus  the 
precincts  of  Amenhotpe  III.’s  funerary  temple 
contained  a  pool  full  (of  water),  like  a  high  Nile ,  the 
lord  offish  and  fowl. 

The  description  bequeathed  us  by  Ramesses  III. 
of  his  great  temple  at  Medlnet  Habu  gives  us  some 
idea  of  the  almost  overpowering  magnificence  of  the 
public  buildings  of  western  Thebes,  a  magnificence 
which  had,  however,  reached  its  culmination  some 
two  centuries  earlier  in  the  already  twice  mentioned 
funerary  temple  of  Amenhotpe  III.,  utterly  de¬ 
stroyed,  alas !  by  that  vandal  Merneptah  in  his 
search  for  a  plentiful  and  cheap  supply  of  building 
material  wherewith  to  erect  his  own  funerary 
temple.  An  avenue  lined  with  statues  of  jackals — 


188 


LUXOR  AND  ITS  TEMPLES 


the  tutelary  divinity  of  the  necropolis  was  the 
jackal-god  Anubis — led  from  the  river  bank  to  the 
vast  pylon  admitting  to  the  colonnaded  forecourt. 
The  pylon,  the  towers  of  which  were  furnished  wTith 
the  usual  flag- staffs  wrought  with  gold ,  bore  the 
name  A  mun  -  has  -  recei ved  -  his  -  sacred  -  barque  ( i.  e. , 
boat  -  shrine) ;  for,  besides  serving  as  the  main 
entrance  to  the  temple,  the  pylon  was  intended 
to  be  used  as  a  halting-place  or  station  for  the 
processional  image  of  Amunre',  when,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  yearly  funerary  festival  called 
the  Festival  of  the  Valley ,  that  god  was  conveyed 
across  the  river  to  visit  the  divinities  of  the  West 
— i.e.,  of  the  necropolis. 

Two  colossal  portrait -statues  of  Amenhotpe, 
either  seventy  feet  high  and  fashioned  out  of  a  single 
block  of  sandstone,  were  set  up  before  the  pylon, 
and  with  them  also  a  pair  of  obelisks.  The  two 
statues  are  the  well-known  colossi  of  Memnon  (see 
Plate  XXIII.),  the  northern  one  being  the  famous 
“  Vocal  Memnon.”  According  to  certain  of  the 
Classical  writers,  this  statue  emitted  a  musical  note 
at  the  time  of  sunrise,  a  phenomenon  first  recorded 
by  the  geographer  Strabo  (who  flourished  about 
20  b.c.)  and  only  noticed,  by  the  way,  after  the 
upper  portion  had  been  shattered  and  split  off  by 


SOME  FUNERARY  TEMPLES 


189 


an  earthquake  in  the  early  days  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  When  the  statue  had  been  piously, 
though  somewhat  crudely,  restored  by  Septimius 
Severus,  it  ceased  to  be  “  vocal  ”  altogether.  These 
two  mutilated  statues  are  practically  all  that  remains 
of  the  once  glorious  building,  which,  in  the  words 
of  the  Pharaoh  himself,  was  an  ete?mal  everlasting 
fortress  of  good  white  sandstone  wrought  with  gold 
throughout.  Its  floor ,  he  goes  on  to  say,  is  overlaid 
with  silver ,  and  all  its  gates  with  gold.  It  abounds 
in  statues  of  the  king  made  of  granite  from  Aswan , 
of  wonderful  stones ,  and  all  kinds  of  splendid  costly 
stones.  These  particular  statues,  it  would  seem, 
were  those  set  up  in  the  colonnades  of  the  fore¬ 
court. 

The  place  where  the  king  stood,  when  he  pontifi¬ 
cated  at  the  celebration  of  the  liturgy,  was  marked 
by  a  great  sandstone  stela,  thirty  feet  high  and 
inlaid  with  gold  and  costly  stones,  which  now  lies 
prostrate  and  broken  behind  the  colossi.  No 
wonder  that  it  was  said  of  the  whole  glittering 
edifice  that  it  resembles  the  horizon  of  heaven  with 
Re  rising  therein. 


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Woolley,  C.  L.  :  Excavations  in  Tell  El-Amarna,  in  The  Journal  of 
Egyptian  Archceology ,  viii.,  pp.  49-65. 

Wreszinski,  W.  :  Atlas  zur  altdgyptischen  Kultur geschichte.  Leipzig, 

pis.  1,  2. 


25 


INDEX 


A 

'Aamu,  38,  39 
Ablutions,  7 

Abu  ’l-Haggag,  the  Sheykh,  78 
Abydos,  43,  44 

Ahmose  I.,  56,  58,  84,  87,  88,  112 
Ahmose,  Admiral,  88 
Ahmbse,  Queen,  112,  163,  164,  165 
Akhenaton,  56,  81,  111,  155,  156, 159 
Akhthoi,  Baron,  45,  46 
Akhthoi,  King,  43,  45 
Aleppo,  King  of,  144,  145,  172 
Amenemhet  I.,  46,  47,  51 
Amenemhet  III.,  50,  51 
Amenemhet  IY.,  51 
Amenhotpe  I.,  90 
Ameuhotpe  II.,  98-101 
bow  of,  100 
Amenhotpe  III.,  74 

avenue  of  sphinxes  of,  62 
colonnaded  court  of  (at  Luxor), 
71 

columned  hall  of,  64 

unfinished,  65,  67 
funerary  temple  of,  186,  187 
inscription  of,  62 
palace  of  (at  Thebes),  81,  161 
statues  of,  62,  188 
temple  of  (at  Luxor),  64 
Amenhotpe  IY.,  Ill 
Amor,  104,  105 

Amun,  62,  69,  71,  75,  92,  95,  96, 109, 
134,  136,  140-142,  163,  164, 
166,  168 

as  good  herdsman,  152 
as  protector  of  poor  and  defence¬ 
less,  153 

as  skilful  pilot,  153 
as  State-god,  identified  with  sun- 
god  Re-Atum,  47,  56,  67,  68, 
117,  161 

cattle  belonging  to,  109 
Chief  of  the  Concubines  of,  70 
concubines  of,  70,  76 
cultus  image  of,  186 
God’s  Wife  of,  68-70 
prisoners  sacrificed  to,  100,  104 


Amun,  processional  image  of,  188 
Southern  Harim  of,  64,  67,  70 
statue  (portable)  of,  93 
temple  of  (at  Karnak),  62,  64 
temple  of  (at  Pi-Ra'messe),  63 
Amunre  ,  47,  114,  132 
Anarchy,  37 
Ani,  Sage,  25,  155 
Anubis,  162,  168,  188 
Anup,  147 
Archers,  Asiatic,  52 
Egyptian,  106,  108 
'Aruna,  91-94 
Asia,  137 

Asiatics,  38,  39,  44-46,  51,  54,  84,  86, 
94,  98,  99 
Askalon,  139 
Aswan,  85,  87,  189 
Asyut,  42-46 
Athribis,  44 

Attendants,  female,  4,  17 
Atum,  178 
Avaris,  54,  55,  85 

Avenue  (lined  with  statues  of  jackals), 
187 

B 

Baal,  109,  143 

Balcony  (of  royal  palace),  103,  178 

Banquets,  22,  28,  30 

Bata,  147 

Bathroom,  8 

Bedrooms,  8 

Beehive  huts  (of  Puntites),  132 
Beer,  28,  31,  33,  34 
Benches  (of  brick),  4 
Benha,  44 
Bes,  167 

Birds  (let  fly  as  carriers  of  news),  124, 
181 

Birth,  divine  (of  the  Pharaoh),  70, 
163 

Boat  (of  papyrus),  13,  15,  16 

(of  Sheykh  Abu  ’l-Haggag),  78 
Boat-shrine,  71,  73,  74-76,  188 
Bolshevism,  38 
Boxes,  10 

Bread  and  beer,  26,  154 


196 


INDEX 


Breasted,  Professor,  35,  58,  101, 129, 
143 

Bureaucratic  government,  49 
Buto,  75,  117,  122 
Byblos,  40 

C 

Cairo,  4,  44 
Calendar,  125 

Calligraphy,  exercise  in,  176 
Cambyses,  101 

Captives,  100, 103,  108, 1 09, 141,  161, 
186 

Carmel,  90,  91 
Carnarvon,  Lord,  84 
tablet,  84 
Carpets,  9 
Caskets,  10 
Cat,  14 

Cataract,  first,  87 
fourth,  85 
Cattle-sheds,  161 
Cedars,  40 

Ceiling,  painted,  5,  81,  161 
Chairs,  9,  28 

Chariot,  52,  80,  95,  96,  98,  99,  140, 
142,  143 

Charioteer,  140,  143,  144 
Chariotry,  98,  140,  141 
Cilicia,  104 
Civil  strife,  51 
Concubines,  17 
Conspiracy,  19,  20 
Coptos,  41,  180 

Coronation,  120,  121,  146,  163;  cf. 
179 

Couches,  10 
Cows,  sacred,  168 
Cowsheds,  4 
Crete,  40,  137 

Crown,  red  (of  Lower  Egypt),  123 
white  (of  Upper  Egypt),  122 
Crowns  (of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt), 
115 

CusfE,  42,  55,  85 
Cushions,  10,  82,  137 

D 

Dais  (in  reception-room),  6 
Dakhleh,  oasis  of,  169 
Dancers,  negro,  75 
Dancing,  19 


Dancing-girls,  31 
Dapur,  Hittite  fortress  of,  174 
Dau,  27 
Daughters,  17 

Deir  el-Bahri,  temple  of  Hatshepsut 
at,  70,  li3, 115, 117, 121,  128,  135, 
162-170 

Delta,  39,  42,  44,  45,  51,  54,  79,  83- 
85,  102,  104,  107,  108,  187 
Dendereh,  temple  of  Hathor  at,  69 
Denyen,  102 

Deutsche-Orient-Gesellschaft,  4 
Dhutmose  I.,  87-90, 112, 117-119, 125 
Dhutmose  II.,  112,  126 
Dhutmose  III.,  89-98,  111,  126,  127, 
135,  136,  175 
annals  of,  89 
festival  hall  of,  59 
Dhutnnfer,  2 

Diadems  (of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt), 
115, 121 ;  see  also  underj“  Crowns” 
Dining-room,  6,  8 
Division  (of  Egyptian  army),  140 
Dom-palm,  155 
Draughts,  game  of,  185 
Drinking,  28 
Drummer,  73,  76,  180 
negro,  75 

Drunkenness,  32,  77,  79 
E 

Egypt  Exploration  Society,  3 
Ehnasiyeh  el-Medineh,  41 
Eighteenth  Dynasty,  56,  58,  84,  87, 
161 

Eighth  Dynasty,  41 
El-Amarna,  4,  5,  56,  81,  82 
Elephantine,  85,  141 
Eleventh  Dynasty,  46,  47 
El-Kab,  88 

Enclosure  (around  house),  4,  5 
Erment,  41 
Esdraelon,  91 
Eshmunen,  56,  84,  86,  154 
Euphrates,  98 

F 

Fat  women,  taste  for,  130 
Father,  love  of  son  for,  26,  27 
Fayum,  48 
Festival,  76,  77 


INDEX 


197 


Festival,  funerary,  188 
of  the  Valley,  188 
Feudal  state,  36 
system,  48 

Feudatories,  36,  49,  50 

Fifth  Dynasty,  35 

First  Dynasty,  122 

Fishing,  12 

Flabellae,  181 

Flabellifer,  73,  180 

Flags  (decorating  pylon),  66 

Flag- staffs,  62,  66,  75,  141,  188 

Fleet,  Egyptian,  106,  129,  134 

Floors,  9 

Folk-tales,  147 

Fourth  Dynasty,  35 

Fowling,  12,  14 

Frieze,  6 

Furnishing,  furniture,  9,  80 

G 

Game,  17 
Garden,  10,  12 

botanical  and  zoological,  60 
(of  a  temple),  63,  135,  161,  187 
Gardiner,  Dr.  A.  H.,  182 
Garland,  30,  34 
Gaza,  90 
Geb,  165 

Geese  (as  carrier-birds),  124_ ;  see  also 
under  “  Birds  ” 

Gezer,  139 

God’s-Land,  128-133 
God’s  Wife  ;  see  under  Amun 
Granaries,  2,  4 
Grease,  perfumed,  29 
Great  House,  121 
Guests,  29 

H 

Hamites,  129 
Haremheb,  71 
Harlm,  19,  20 
royal,  185 
-favourites,  185 
Harpoon,  12 
Harvest  festival,  179 
Hathor,  68,  69,  162,  168 

temple  of  (at  Dendereh),  69 
(wife  of  Re-Atum),  69,  70 
Hathors,  77 

the  seven,  148 


Hatshepsut,  90,  111-135,  146,  161, 
163 

funerary  temple  of  (at  Deir  el- 
Bahri),  70,  162-170 
Hatslio',  i08 
Hearth,  8 
Heket  165 

Heliopolis,  56,  67,  114, 115, 117, 125, 
154 

ennead  of,  163 

Hatshepsut’s  reception  by  the 
sun-god  at,  163 
temple  of  Atum  at,  69 
Herakleopolis,  41,  47,  48 
Herakleopolitan  art,  42 
supremacy,  41-46 
Herakleopolitans,  41 
Hermonthis,  142 
Hermopolis,  154 
Herodotus,  101 
Hesat- cow,  168 
Hierakonpolis,  121 
High  Gate  (at  Medinet  Habu),  183 
High-priestess,  queen  as,  126 
Hippopotamus,  12,  15,  16 
Hittite  land,  139 
Hittite  monarch,  172 
Hittites,  65,  104,  140,  144,  170 
Holscher,  Dr.,  178 
Horus,  115,  122,  124,  139,  181,  182 
Houses,  1,  4 
Hunter,  17 
Hunting,  12,  17 

Husband  and  wife,  relations  of,  21-25 
Hyksos,  49,  51,  54,  55,  58,  84-87,  128 

I 

Image  (of  a  divinity),  71 
Incense,  29,  73,  80,  133 
-trees,  133,  162 
Intef,  16 
Ipet-Isut,  64 
Ipuwer,  37-40 
Isis,  124,  168,  181 
Israel,  139 
Ithtowi,  48,  50 

K 

Ka,  165 

Kadesh,  90,  91,  96-98,  172,  173 
battle  of,  171 
Kamdse,  55,  56,  84-87 


198 


INDEX 


Karnak,  temple  of,  58,  60,  62,  63,  70, 
71,  76,  160 
Keper,  109 

Khargeh,  oasis  of,  169 
Khenshotpe,  25 
Khnum,  47,  165 
Khons,  71 
Kibleh,  6 
Kina,  94,  95 
Kitchen,  2,  9 

L 

Ladies,  15 

Lake,  sacred,  63,  161  ;  see  also  under 
"  Pool  ” 

(excavated  by  Ramesses  III.), 
187 

Lamps,  30 
Lapis-lazuli,  62 
Lavatory,  8 
Lebanon,  74,  98,  133 
Libya,  139 

Libyans,  102-104,  107,  138,  179 
Lisht,  48 
Litter,  179-181 
Liturgy,  temple,  189 
Lotus  flowers,  10,  15,  30,  63,  187 
Love-songs,  149 
Lower  Egypt,  conquest  of,  122 
Lustral  washing  (at  coronation),  121 
Luxor,  temple  of,  62,  64,  67,  70,  74, 
78,  160,  163 

M 

Manetho,  51,  54 

Masts  ;  see  under  “Flag-staffs” 

Matting,  9 

Mayor,  50 

Medinet  Habu,  105,  106,  176,  183 

Megiddo,  91-93,  95-97,  175 

Memnon,  188 

Memphis,  48,  122 

Menes,  122,  123 

Menhotpe  IV.,  46 

Menna,  143 

Merikere ,  44,  45 

Merneptah,  102,  139,  187 

Mert- priestesses,  75 

Meshersher,  107,  108 

Meshwesh,  107-109 

Meskhent,  166 

Meten,  137 


Meyer,  Professor  Eduard,  51 
Middle  Kingdom,  136 
Min,  179 

image  of,  180 
sacred  animal  of,  181 
temple  of,  179-181 
Minstrels,  31 
Mitanni,  148 

Mont,  46,  95,  103,  105,  143 
Mosque,  78 

Mother,  love  of  son  for,  25,  26 
Music,  19 

Musician-priestesses,  69,  75-77 
-priests,  75 
Musicians,  31,  33 
Mut,  62,  71 

temple  of,  63 
Mutnofret,  112 

N 

Naharin,  91 
Napata,  101 

Nature  (love  of  Egyptians  for),  12 
Naval  action,  103,  106,  183 
Necropolis,  Theban,  160 
Neferirkere  II.,  41 
Neferkauljor,  41 
Nefretiri,  67,  112 
Nefrusi,  86 

Nekhbet,  115,  119,  121 

Neklien,  75,  117 

Nesut,  113 

Nesut-blyet,  118 

New  Year’s  Day,  70,  120 

Nigidius  Figulus,  125 

Nineteenth  Dynasty,  56,  101,  161 

Ninth  Dynasty,  41 

Nitokris,  112 

Nubia,  50,  84,  87,  101,  138 
Nubians,  88 

O 

Obelisks,  65,  75,  83,  141 
Officials  (salaried),  49 
Old  Kingdom,  35 
Opet,  festival  of,  70,  78 
Orchards,  161 
Orontes,  98,  102,  144,  170 
Osirid  statues,  171 
Osiris,  124,  154,  181,  182 
Ostraca,  175 
Ox-carts,  105 


INDEX 


199 


p 

Palestine,  90,  98,  136,  139 
Papyri  (in  British  Museum),  154 
Papyrus  Harris ,  63 
Parks,  12 

Pavilion  (in  garden),  12 
Peleset,  101,  102 
Pelusium,  54 
Perehu,  129 
Philistines,  101 
Phylse  (of  priests),  72 
Physician,  24 
Piety  (to  parents),  26,  27 
Piles,  huts  on,  132 
Pillar  of  his  Mother,  121 
Piopi  I.,  Piopi  II.,  36 
Pi-Ra'messe,  54,  56,  63 
Poetry,  religious,  152 
Pond  (in  garden),  12 
Pool  (adjunct  of  temple),  63,  187 
Priesthood,  72 
Priests  (of  sun -god),  73 
dwellings  of,  161 
Prisoners  of  war,  sacrifice  of,  104 
Procession  (at  coronation),  122 
(at  a  festival),  73-76,  179-181 
Punt,  128-131,  133,  162 
Puntites,  132-135 
Purification  (at  coronation),  122 
Pylon,  62,  65,  66,  141 

R 

Ramesses  II.,  65,  142,  161 

and  Seti  I.,  columned  hall  of, 
60,  62,  65 

(at  attack  on  Dapur),  174 
(at  battle  of  Kadesh),  140-146, 
171 

colonnaded  court  of  (at  Luxor), 
65,  66 

funerary  temple  of,  170-175 
heroism  of,  140 
statues  of,  170,  172 
Ramesses  III.,  19,  102-110,  161, 181, 
185 

funerary  temple  of,  172,  176-186 
palace  of  (at  Medinet  Habu), 
161.  178 

palace  of  (at  Tell  el-Yahudiyeh), 
83 

wars  of,  183 


Ramesses  III.,warsof  (with  Libyans) , 
102-104,  107-110,  179 
(with  northerners),  104-107 
Ramesses  IV.,  146,  147 
Ramesseum,  144,  145,  170 
Re ,  40,  92,  115,  154 
Re-Atum,  56,  67,  69,  114,  115,  117 
high-priestess  of,  67 
Re-Harakhte,  147 
Reaping  (ceremonial),  182 
Reception-rooms,  6,  28 
Recess  (painted),  6 
Red  Sea,  128,  129 
Retenu,  74,  137 
Roof  (resort  of  women),  2 
Rugs,  9 

S 

Sacrificing  (prisoners  of  war),  100 

Sallier  Papyrus  No.  1,  154 

Scaling  ladder,  174 

Scent,  29 

Scholar,  33 

School,  26,  161,  175 

Schoolboys,  176 

Sea-fight,  107 

Sea-rovers,  103,  104,  106 

Selket,  168 

Sentries,  94 

Senzar,  98 

Septimius  Severus,  189 
Servants,  4,  9 

(in  a  temple),  186,  187 
Seshat,  116,  168 
Seshed,  137 
Sesostris  II.,  48 
Sesostris  III.,  48-51 
Seth,  115,  122,  139,  154 
Seti  I.  and  Ramesses  II.,  columned 
hall  of,  60,  62,  65 
Seventh  Dynasty,  41 
Sharuhen,  87 
Shat,  138 
Shekelesh,  102 
Shemesh-Edom,  98 
Sherden,  102 

Ship  (for  conveyance  of  Amun  on 
ceremonial  voyage),  74 
Ships,  flotilla  of  (belonging  to 
temple),  186 
Shooting,  big  game,  12 
Shrines,  71 


200 


INDEX 


Sicilians,  101 

Sieve,  ceremonial  trundling’ of,  168- 
170 

Sikeloi,  101 
“Sisters,”  5,  25 
Sixth  Dynasty,  27,  51,  112 
Slaves,  161 

Somaliland,  128,  132,  162 
Son,  25-27 

“Souls”  of  Buto  and  Nekhen,  75, 
117,  166 

Sphinxes,  avenue  of,  62 
Spinning,  2 
Stables,  4 

Standard-bearers,  122,  124 
Standards,  181 
Stools,  9 

Storehouses,  4,  161 
Store-rooms,  9 
Strabo,  188 
Streets,  1,  34 
Sudan,  49 
Sudanese,  50,  101 
Sun-cult,  heliopolitan,  72 
Sun-god,  47,  72,  114,  115 
wife  of,  68 

Syria,  90, 102, 104,  105, 127, 135,  179 
Syrians,  settlements  of  (belonging  to 
a  temple),  187 

T 

Tangur,  88 
Taweret,  167 
Teacher,  33 
Tefibi,  43 

Temple,  precincts  of,  161 
Temples,  funerary,  161 
Tenth  Dynasty,  41,  46 
Thaneni,  89 
Tharu,  90 
Thebaid,  41 
Thebans,  44,  45,  56 
Thebes,  1,  41,  46,  47,  54,  57,  58,  62, 
67,  83,  87,  101,  102,  160 
Thinite  nome,  44 


Thoth,  116,  154,  163,  165 
hymn  to,  153 
Throw-stick,  13,  15 
Timuris,  139,  158 
To-Nuter,  74,  133,  137 
Tombos,  88 
Town,  Egyptian,  1 
Trade,  39,  45 

Treasury  (of  a  temple),  187 
Trumpeter,  73,  76,  180 
Tut'enkhamun,  71,  149 
Twelfth  Dynasty,  46,  47,  64,  85 
Twentieth  Dynasty,  56,  161 

U 

Uthentyu,  138 
Uto,  115,  121 

y 

Vassals,  36,  37 
Vizier,  35 

W 

Wady  Tumilat,  129 
Wall-painting,  81 
Warships,  105 

Washing  (before  meals),  7,  29 
Watches  (of  priests),  72 
Water,  holy,  122 

libation  of  (to  the  dead),  27 
Wax  figures  (magical),  19 
Weaver,  weaving,  2 
Weld- Blundell,  Mr.  H.,  132 
Weshwesh,  102 

White  Walls  (name  of  Memphis),  123 
Wife,  15,  17,  21-25 
Wigs,  30 
Wine,  28,  31 

Women’s  quarters  (in  a  house),  2,  17 
Writing,  26 

Y 

Yahes,  122 
Yehem,  90,  91 
Yenoam,  139 


DATE  DUE 


, 


